


A Date With The Past

by MeetMeAtTheEndOfTheUniverse



Series: Future Family [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, F/F, Future Daughter - Freeform, Incredibly brief mention of rape, Swan Queen - Freeform, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:41:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 26
Words: 40,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24368272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeetMeAtTheEndOfTheUniverse/pseuds/MeetMeAtTheEndOfTheUniverse
Summary: “Who are you?”“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”“I live in a town full of Fairytale characters.” Henry scoffs. “Try me.”She sighs. “My name is Heather. I’m from the future.” She pauses. “And I’m your sister.”———She’s stuck in the past and no one knows she exists. What the hell is she going to do now?
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan
Series: Future Family [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2060274
Comments: 208
Kudos: 430





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello friends! 
> 
> I have no idea why I’m starting this while I have like 2 other stories on the go but this was rolling around in my head forever, so I had to at least start it. 
> 
> I don’t have a beta so all errors, grammar and otherwise, are my own. I don’t own Once Upon A Time or their characters because let’s face it, if I did, SwanQueen would have been endgame. 
> 
> Thanks for tuning in. I hope you enjoy. 
> 
> Bre <3

Emerald green eyes blink open. Once. Then twice. Bright rays of light assault the corneas as her pupils constrict after the long moments of darkness. Chocolate coloured curls spill out, fanning out around her head like a halo in the midst of the grassy field. 

She blinks again. 

Green floods her vision as the darkness fades from her peripheral. Confused eyes flit and flutter back and forth before a chilled sensation prickles up her spine and confusion makes way for panic and dread. 

The last thing she remembers is blinding lights and abusive red smoke winding it’s way around her body and across her skin in ways that left her flushed with terror and her knees ready to buckle. Black had slithered slowly into her vision before consuming her whole. 

With this sudden jolt of memory, she flinches, practically jumping to her feet in a series of movements that leave her careening into a nearby tree and stumbling over her own two feet. 

When she manages to catch herself, a thumping headache comes to the forefront of her mind. It is way too bright. Last she remembers, it had been midnight and she was on the beach, now she gazes at her surroundings and knows there’s something astonishingly wrong. 

Trees, leaves, grass and dirt as far as her eyes can see. This doesn’t make any sense. The closest forest to her house is at least a 30 minute walk away. Never mind the beach which has to be a good hour. She knows, she timed it when she was 13. 

But now she finds herself in the forest. Dammit. She needs to get home. Ma is going to absolutely murder her.


	2. Chapter 2

It takes a good 45 minutes to drag herself out of woods and back into the workings of a lazy Sunday morning in her sleepy little town. The knees of her jeans are caked in dried mud and she spent at least 10 of those minutes untangling leaves and twigs from her curls. She has absolutely no idea what happened the night before but if she woke up miles from where she remembers being and all alone, it can’t have been good. The memory of blood red smoke flutters into her mind but she quickly shakes it away. It must have been a dream. 

One of the first things she’d done is pat her pockets in attempt to find her cellphone. Not there. Well, any thought about calling her mother to come pick her up, even though she wouldn’t have done it anyway, leaves her mind completely. This also means her Ma is probably panicking big time since she knows for a fact that the woman uses her cell to track where she is. Overprotective if you ask her, which she has been told repeatedly that no one has. 

She smiles when she reaches the heart of town, the clock at the top of the tower clangs out a series of chimes as the time hits 8:00 AM. Her brows furrow. She brings her wrist closer to her face and uncovers the watch that sits upon it. 2:15 AM. That’s strange. 

Green eyes gaze towards the people just beginning to start their days. She grins politely and nods to those she does and doesn’t know, receiving everything from worried glances to nervous smiles to hesitant nods back. She shrugs, the people in this town have always been weird. 

A smile stretches her cheeks when she spots Storybrooke’s psychiatrist. 

“Hey Archie, hows the weather today?” She calls out her standard greeting. Her smile drops when she doesn’t receive her usual response.

The man fumbles momentarily. “Oh, uh the weather is nice today.” 

He moves on leaving her standing there, confusion blooming across her face. For the last 10 years the man had never responded with anything but his usual “a beautiful day as always,” her mom used to roll her eyes and joke that the ‘bug’ can only see the good in everything. 

She shakes off the feeling of dread as she comes up to her house. The last and biggest on her street. She pauses in front of the gate, working up the courage to greet her mother and certainly be grounded until she’s 30.

“Henry! It’s time to leave!” Her mother calls out from inside the house.

Henry? He wasn’t supposed to be coming by until next Saturday. 

Just as her fingers brush against the lock on the metal gate, her front door opens. She flinches waiting for the inevitable moment that her mother sees her and freaks out.

The yelling never comes. Her green eyes peel open and her jaw instantly drops.

Instead of seeing blonde tresses messily combed though by hurried fingers, she’s greeted by shoulder length chestnut locks perfectly straightened, not a strand out of place.

Narrowed brown eyes meet her wide emerald gaze. 

“Can I help you?” The woman speaks slowly. 

The door behind her bangs open and a young teen with messy brown hair rushes out attempting to simultaneously hook his backpack over his shoulders and stuff a piece of toast in his mouth while also shoving his hair out of his face.

Her eyes are still locked with the teen in front of her. 

“I said, can I help you.” Her tone is low. She remembers that. She used to use that tone whenever she caught her sneaking a cookie before dinner or slyly tiptoeing into the living room to watch TV when her homework wasn’t yet finished. 

The girl blinks. 

“Mom?”


	3. Chapter 3

“Mom?”

“Excuse me?” The woman’s eyebrow raises so high she thinks it will hit her hair line. 

The boy, Henry?!, peeks out from behind his mothers back. 

“What is your name?” The older woman asks tersely.

“Mom?” Henry says still looking at the girl who hasn’t moved an inch. His eyes take in every detail of her. He hasn’t seen her before, he’s sure of it. So why is she looking at him like she knows him?

“Henry, stay back.” She instructs, a hand held out behind her to prevent her son from getting any closer to the scruffy young woman. Her next words are directed to the girl. “I am Mayor Mills, you would do well to remember that.”

Her jaw is still on the ground. The older woman tuts. 

“Are you from the orphanage?”

“I-“

“Never mind. We’re late. Henry get in the car.” Regina keeps her gaze on the girl as her son rushes past her, he too, watching. When he’s in the car and the door shut, only then does the Mayor stride closer to her, looking down her nose at the girls muddy jeans and messy hair.

The girl attempts to pat down her hair as best as she can. She’s sure that she looks a mess, her makeup smeared and her outfit dirty. 

“My house better not be damaged when I arrive home or I will know who did it.” Regina states almost disgusted at her. She blinks before leaving her standing on her front side walk, getting into her car and driving away. 

She stands there a moment in silent disbelief before tears well up in her bright green eyes and start to rapidly spill down her cheeks. The tears cloud her vision and she doesn’t realize that she’d started to run until she’s standing in front of the Sheriff’s station. She wipes away her tears and snot on the sleeve of her jacket, something that her mom would cringe wildly about. Without hesitation, she opens the door and enters the building.

She almost sobs in relief when she spots her Ma sitting at her desk, devouring a bear-claw. When the blonde spots the teenage girl with messy clothes and bright red eyes who still has tears spilling even after wiping them away, she fumbles with a napkin, getting the sugar off her fingers while attempting to stand from her desk. 

Without warning, the wind is knocked out of her lungs when the teen barrels into her and wraps her arms tightly around the older woman’s body. 

Emma tenses, her arms flailing for a moment before one comes down to awkwardly pat the girls back while the other gently pushes her away. 

“Uh kid? You ok?”

The girl looks up and Emma forces back the gasp that wants to escape her lips. Teary green eyes stare into hers and she pauses momentarily at the somehow familiar feeling she receives. 

The teen starts to cry again seeing absolutely no recognition in her mothers face. 

“Woah! Ok kid, it’s ok. I uh,” Emma stumbles over her words. What the hell is she supposed to do with a crying teenager. What would Regina do? The blonde rolls her eyes, unless the kid was Henry, Regina would probably just ignore them. 

“I- hey wait!” She calls out suddenly realizing that the girl had sprinted away in the moment that Emma was focused on the Mayor. The Sheriff takes off after the brunette, stopping a few feet from the door of the station when she doesn’t see the girl. She huffs, throwing her arms in the air. 

Running her fingers through her uncombed hair, she turns to head back inside, reminding herself to check Storybrooke’s new orphanage later in search of her. She obviously needed something 

The girl runs into the park attempting to get as far away from her mother as possible. No! That woman isn’t her Ma. That woman looked at her like she was just another kid. Someone she didn’t even know. The woman earlier, had treated her like a street rat and throughout all of this, she still has absolutely no idea what’s happening! 

She stumbles blindly into an area of the park that she found... in the future? Is this what this is? Obviously she’s in the past, just look at her mom and Henry. HENRY! He’s a child. In her world, her brother is 30 years old and a best selling author. What the hell is happening?

She drops to the ground, her body exhausted. Her eyes are out of tears. Her knees buckle under her and she collapses into a heap despite the dew from the grass seeping into her jeans. Her head drops to her knees as her body trembles. She just wants her Ma to hold her tight and tell her that everything is going to be alright. 

Her head snaps up when the bushes rustle around her. Did Emma follow her? Her heart rate picks up when she hears a twig snapping close to where she’s hiding. She jumps to her feet readying herself to punch if need be.

A head of floppy brown hair peeks through the shrubbery. She drops her fists back down to her sides.

Henry. His eyes bore into hers. He stares at her with a gaze that feels as though it’s looking into her literal soul. 

“Who are you?”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey lovelies!
> 
> This is a smaller chapter but once we really get going into this story, they’ll hopefully get longer. 
> 
> Bre <3

“Who are you?”

The boy stands there with a determined look on his face. Fresh tears well in her eyes; he looks exactly like mom with that expression. 

She quickly tries to lie her way out of it. One of the things her parents taught her growing up is that if you ever find yourself in the past, you have to do your best not to tell anyone. 

“Um. Dove. My name is Dove.” She smiles, proud at herself for thinking on her toes and telling him her middle name. 

Henry narrows his eyes not realizing the impact his expression is taking on the young woman. 

“You’re lying.”

Shit. She’d hoped that he hadn’t yet developed Emma’s superpower. 

“I’m not.”

“You are. That was another lie.” 

Well then. Her plan is flying out the proverbial window and fast. 

“I um...”

Henry shakes his head and steps back. “I’m going to go get the Sheriff.”

“No!” She stretches her hand out. A panicked look crossing her face. “Please don’t.”

He huffs. His hands finding their way to his hips. She bites back a quick smile, he looks like Emma when he does that. 

“Then tell me who you are.” His eyes bore into hers. She can’t get over seeing him this young. Last time she’d seen him in her time, he was 6,1’ and crazy buff. This scrawny young kid is so hard to picture as the strong man he’d grown into. 

Her green eyes drop to the toes of her boots. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“I live in a town full of fairytale characters. My mom is the Evil Queen and my Ma is the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming who also happen to be my grandparents. Try me.” His voice is tough yet cracks slightly, traces of puberty hitting him like a train. 

She lifts her eyes to meet his. There’s something so earnest in his gaze. Like he really wants her to tell him. Like he needs her to tell him.

She sighs. Her Ma is so going to kill her. She shifts on her feet as her fingers reach to tuck a strand of chocolate locks behind her ear; a nervous habit. She’d gotten that from her mom. 

“My name is Heather. I’m from the future.” She pauses a moment to gage his reaction. He hasn’t moved quite yet. “And I’m your sister.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Guys! 
> 
> Thanks so much for your comments and lovely words. I don’t know how many of you are writers yourself but it is so incredible to hear from you. It fills me with so much excitement when I get an email saying there’s been a new comment. I love hearing from you guys. 
> 
> Please please please feel free to leave any words you have. If it’s constructive criticism, let me know. Something you’d like to see? Write a comment. Even if you’d just like to say hi, it would make my day. If you can’t already tell, I’m going stir crazy in quarantine. 
> 
> Anyway, there’s my little rant. Thanks again for all of your kind words.
> 
> Bre <3

“I’m your sister.”

There’s a momentary stare down between the teens. Her earnest and slightly despondent gaze meeting his frozen, dubious one. He shakes his head and backs away quickly. 

“I’m getting the Sheriff.”

“No! Henry please! I can prove it.” Her heart races quickly in her chest. She can feel the blood pounding in her ears. 

He stops. Her breath catches stiffly in her throat. She thinks she’s going to throw up. Seriously, her body is wrought with tension, her fists curled so tightly into her palms her nails cut into her flesh.

“How?” His face is firm but she can make out a small piece of him that’s interested. He still has that childish hope that people are always truthful and good. He taught her that you know. He taught her that people are good and you just have to find the goodness in them. He told her about the times when Mom hadn’t been very good, she’d done bad things but there was a part of her, one that Emma had seen first, that was good. 

Heather’s heart stutters knowing that one day he’s going to lose that hope. So is she. 

“Um. You have the heart of the truest believer. Uh Neal Cassidy is your father and Rumplestiltskin is your grandfather.”

The boy cross his arms across his chest. “Everyone knows that.”

She licks her lips attempting to get some moisture back into her mouth. “Your favourite comics are The X-Men.” 

“Nice try but my favourite are The Avengers.”

What? They’ve always been the X-Men. With each answers that he rebuts, the panic in her heart increases. Her chest is tight and she thinks she’s going to hyperventilate. She hasn’t had a panic attack in almost 3 years, she isn’t going to start that back up again. 

The boy turns around to leave. Heather gets desperate. He’s leaving and getting closer and closer to the edge of the tree line. 

“You have a diary!” Henry freezes on the spot. She continues rambling. She got that from her Ma. “You write all of your day-to-day adventures in it for when you become famous and you write your autobiography. You have a picture of you and Regina that even when you were mad at her, you’d look at every night and tell her you loved her. You have a a stuffed dragon named Dudley that you’ve had since you were a baby. You always thought that Regina had given you him until you found out that you were adopted. It was actually the only thing Emma gave you before she gave you up. You sleep with him every single night. You even tied a string around his neck that Regina told you would keep away the nightmares.” In the time it takes her to talk herself out, Henry had turned to face her with his jaw now on the ground. 

A crushing hope now settles on her heart. If Henry doesn’t believe her, she doesn’t know what she’s going to do. He’s always been the one to believe her, especially when she was in trouble, even in the brief moments that Emma had given up on her. He was always the one to look out for her when the kids bullied her for having two moms. He helped her get out of sticky situations that she knows would have landed her in some serious trouble if he hadn’t been there. He’s her big brother. If he can’t help her now, she doesn’t know how she’s going to get out of this. 

“You’re my sister.” He says disbelievingly. 

Her head jerks in a random fashion that he makes out as a nod. 

“You’re from the future.”

She nods again. 

“Cool.”

Wait what?

“Cool?” She questions nervously. 

A broad grin blooms across his face. He bounces on his tippy toes. “Yeah! How awesome is this?! You’re my sister from the future!” 

A similar grin blossoms on her own face. 

“We have to go find Emma!”

The smile drops. “No Henry we can’t.”

His brow furrows. “Why not?”

“Henry I’m not supposed to be here. I don’t even know how I got here or why.”

“Well then you have to tell Emma!” 

“Henry I can’t do that. I need to find a way back to my time with as little disruption to the timeline as possible. Any little thing I do could have devastating effects in the future. I need to get home as quickly as possible.” 

She notices him sizing her up. His eyes roam up and down the length of her frame. 

“What?” She asks almost defensively and cross her arms across her chest. 

“So Ma and Hook got together after all huh?”

The dumbfounded expression on her face has him changing his question. 

“Or did Mom adopt another kid?”

Heather shakes her head. “Hen. I-“

Before she can finish her sentence a pair of angry voices call out from beyond the tree line of the park. 

“HENRY DANIEL MILLS!” The pair call out in unison. 

The boy’s face drops. 

“It’s my moms.” He whispers as though even the smallest noise will be detected from his angry parents.

“Henry-“ she attempts 

He shakes his head frantically. “I have to go.” He starts to run before he stops and turns back to her. “Meet in my backyard tonight at 11. Mom will be in bed by then.” 

Before she can answer in any form he’s already gone. The teen is left standing there alone. 

She checks her watch. 10:03. Sighing she exits the park carefully, spotting her older... younger?, brother being verbally berated by both his blonde and brunette mothers. 

Concealing her body behind the trunk of a large oak tree, she peers at the trio ahead of her, smiling wistfully as she remembers when it was the four of them.


	6. Chapter 6

After Henry had taken off and been scolded by both of his mothers for skipping school after Regina dropped him off, the trio had left. Regina having to head back to her office that she’d left in a hurry when she’d been called and told that Henry wasn’t in class. Emma rolling her eyes and shoving the kid gently ahead of her to bring him back to school herself. As if the pair would trust him when he said he could just walk back. 

Heather isn’t quite sure what to do with herself for almost 13 hours until she can meet up with her brother. What she’d really like to do is take a shower and change her clothes. Knowing that none of her things exist in this time, she looks all around her making sure that there’s no one around before she slips back into the thicket behind her. 

In a practiced motion, she brings both hands down the length of her body in the air. Pale purple smoke fills the area surrounding her. When it clears, a new outfit has taken its place on her small frame and the twigs have left her chocolate curls. The teen smiles before conjuring a hair brush in her hand. She prefers to brush her hair without magic. For some reason it always makes her locks frizz exponentially. When she’s finished, the brush disappears and she then waves her hand in front of her face to fix her makeup. Once she’s satisfied, she makes a game plan in her head. 

  1. Get something to eat
  2. Find a newspaper or something that will tell her the date
  3. Avoid being seen by anyone but do some subtle reconnaissance 
  4. Attempt to find reasons for her being here or how to get back 
  5. Find a place to stay the night (number 4 is going to take a while)



Once her mental list is complete she sets out to start each task. 

She supposes she could just walk out in the middle of the town and if people were to question her she could say she was from the orphanage. If that’s what Regina and Emma have both assumed then maybe it’s a good cover story for now. She just hopes she doesn’t run into Emma or the ‘Charming’ couple because as much as she loves them, they are her grandparents, she couldn’t help but agree sometimes when Mom called them idiots. They also like to get into everyone’s business. They haven’t left Ma alone for the last 4 years. Seriously, if they tell her to take a day off one more time, Heather isn’t quite sure if anyone will make it out without some serious damage or mental scarring. 

God what she wouldn’t do to be able to ‘poof’ right about now. Emma’s word not hers. Mom hated it when she called it that. Always corrected her, “it’s teleporting not poofing.”

She kicks herself so hard right now at not working harder to learn that one from mom. Everything else she picked up quickly but not that one. Emma had picked up the power easily enough but that hadn’t helped her either, no offence to her but her Ma is a pretty shit teacher. 

As the teenager walks into the town centre with as much confidence as possible, a tip from her mom, she thinks over the conversation she’d had with Henry. He’d looked her over and deduced that; she physically shudders at the thought, Captain Guyliner is her father. It must be the dark hair, she muses. Henry also mentioned something about his Mom adopting again. Does he not know that magic can do pretty much anything, even conceive a child between two women? 

Her thoughts run haywire in her head as she quietly sneaks around the back entrance way of Granny’s Diner. Just as she reaches the door she freezes in her place.  
  


_Oh My God. I’m not born_.

The door in front of her opens with a bang which pulls her out of her head in a split second. Heather jumps almost a mile in the air, raising her hands and readying her magic in response to any danger. 

Her posture relaxes as her Grandmother exits the building.

“Oh!” The woman exclaims a hand going to her heart. “I’m sorry sweetheart.”

It’s nice to see that Snow White never changes.

“Are you alright?” Her face even though darkened by the shadows in the alley is alight with compassion and hope. With an internal eye roll, the girl concocts a plan in her head.

She drops her head, shuffles her feet and wrings her hands together, nervously picking at her nails.

“I’m- I’m sorry,” she stutters out, really hamming up her shtick. “I’m uh,” she then looks up making her green eyes as wide as possible. This puppy dog look used to and in some cases still does get her anything she wants from her Ma. It never worked on Mom though. She saw right through it. Heather, with absolute certainty, knows that her Grandma will take the bait; hook, line and sinker. “Are... you’re Queen Snow White.”

The older woman steps forward, her hands out in a gentle show of harmlessness. “I am Sweetheart. Are you ok?”

“Um. Yes, I- I’m ok. I’m sorry for bothering you.” She shuffles her feet more and moves to step away.

“Wait. Do you need help?”

As if on cue, the teens stomach rumbles loudly. A hot flush crawls up her neck and down her ears, a beet red that comes from more than her superb acting skills.

If possible, Snows demeanour softens even more. She smiles sadly at the girl, taking her for a run away or an orphan. Heather really couldn’t care less what she thinks she is, as long as she can get the woman to fall for it.

“Come on in Darling, I’ll get you some food,” Her grandmother opens the door back up and gestures for her to follow.

“No!” She says a little too quickly. Her heart races again. Lie your ass off Swan-Mills. “I um, I don’t belong in there with them. I don’t- I can’t pay you back,”

The woman totally buys it. Wow. Heather has absolutely no idea where Emma and Henry had gotten their superpower from. 

“Don’t worry Sweetheart. I’ll get you something, be right back.” The fairytale character smiles brightly with a hint of pity in her eyes as she turns to go. The teen had felt a momentary shame for manipulating her grandmother like that but it went away as soon as she saw the pity in her eyes. She hates that look. Anyway, her mom would have loved the stunt she just pulled. She would have smirked evilly; the one that still made the citizens scared of her, shaken her head with thoughts of Snow’s utter idiocy and then she would have fist bumped her daughter, a lovely trait she’d picked up from Henry and Emma.

Heather smiles at the thought.

“Here you are darling.” The woman enters back into the dimly lit alley, where unbeknownst to her, her future granddaughter is waiting.

Heather accepts the bag timidly, still playing up her character. She attempts to remember all her parents had mentioned about Enchanted Forest etiquette. Since she’s wearing pants, she dips into a low bow with her head down.

“Thank you Queen Snow White.”

Snow’s gentle fingers cup her chin and bring her head up to meet eye to eye. She smiles sadly. “There’s no need to that dear.”

The teen smiles as well, this one not acting in any way. The feel of this Snow’s fingers barely brushing under her chin makes her long for her own Snow White. She wants to curl up in her Grandmother’s soft but protective embrace and not let go. With that thought she can just hear her mom’s voice jokingly calling her a ‘traitor’.

“Thank you,” she whispers. 

“Are you in trouble darling?” The words cause her to stiffen. She should have known that Snow wouldn’t just leave her be. 

She shakes her head. “No I’m ok. Thank you for the food.” 

“I can help you.”

She steps back a few steps, quickening as the older woman moves forewords in time with her. She turns, ready to flee.

Snow grabs her wrist with gentle force. “Wait! I can-“

“I said I’m fine thank you!” The young brunette says louder than she meant to, startling both women. Snows momentary shock allows the girl to remove her arm from her grandmother‘s grasp and hightail in down Main Street as fast as her feet will take her, the bag of food still clutched tightly in her hand. Thank God for Track & Field.

When she’s feeling fairly confident that no one is coming to search for her she sits down on a nearby bench and opens up the bag. At this time, her stomach is rumbling louder than before and she’s ready to tame the beast.

Heather smiles and tucks a strand of chestnut locks behind her ear. She pulls out a grilled cheese sandwich; her favourite. An image of a proud Emma fist pumping the air flits across her mind as another of Regina grimaces.

When she’s finished she dumps the trash in the nearest dumpster and starts walking. 

  1. Get something to eat (Complete) 



Onto #2.

As she treks down Habour Street towards the beach, Her earlier thought process jumps to the forefront of her mind. Why would Henry have mentioned Hook?

She shifts her eyes around looking for anyone out and about that could be watching before jogging over to the nearest lawn and snatching the newspaper from the doorstep.

She unwraps the rolled papers and nearly faints.

July 14th, 2014.

Shit.

_My parents aren’t even together yet_.


	7. Chapter 7

Henry sighs tapping his pencil impatiently. His eyes haven’t strayed from the clock for at least the last hour. He’s actually gotten pretty good at tuning out his History teacher yet still somehow look like he’s paying attention. Not that he’d ever admit it, but he’s pretty sure that skill was developed from the never ending pep talks his grandma gives him and his Ma. 

He huffs. 3:25. Did time just decide to stand still? How can anyone expect him to be paying attention to school when his sister, HIS FUTURE SISTER, is out roaming the streets of Storybrooke? 

Oh man, Mom and Ma were so pissed when they found him. He’s officially grounded from Tv and video games for the next week, he really didn’t think that was fair, but both Regina and Emma agreed which is something they’ve strangely been doing more often. Whatever. He’s glad he did it or else Heather, wow his sister’s name is Heather, anyway she might not have come to get him to help her. He knows he can help. 

He glances back at the clock, 3:29. YES! He does a quick fist pump.

Mr Luther clears his throat from beside him. Oops.

The semi-balding man raises his eyebrow. Henry flushes and smiles sheepishly. Thank god it’s Friday. 

The bell rings and Henry is the first one out the door. Emma is supposed to be picking him up, another thing his parents had agreed on; he’s not allowed to go anywhere alone for the next 2 weeks. 

His mind wanders as he walks down the busy halls. A sister. He can’t believe it. He’s going to have a baby sister. He wonders what the future’s like. What does he do for a living? Is he married? Famous? President of the United States? A grin blooms across his face. He bets he’s the President.

He runs outside towards the massive, half dead, oak tree that Emma always waits by when she picks him up. Today, he walks into her having a conversation with Snow. 

“It was very strange.” His Grandma mentions, her arms folded across her chest. “I don’t know, she didn’t give me a name or anything.”

“Same with me. Girl comes rushing into the station and attacks me in a hug. I’ve never seen her around before.” Emma leans casually against the semi-rotting tree trunk.

He pauses. Uh oh. Then walks nonchalantly to greet the pair.

“Hey, what are you guys talking about?”

Mary Margaret smiles brightly at seeing him. “Oh nothing, just this girl I saw earlier. Your mom was just telling me about how she saw a girl too.”

Henry smiles a bit too brightly. His eyes widen as he glances past the pair. 

His eyes look into hers from a few dozen feet away. He sees her eyes shift to Emma and Snow. He shakes his head furiously and gestures at her to leave quickly. After a moments hesitation, she complies.

“Hey Kid, you ok?”

“Huh?”

Emma chuckles. “You’re over there shaking your head like a mad man.”

“Oh uh,” he stumbles, “I thought I saw a bee,”

Her eyes narrow as her superpower pings a lie but she shakes it off. It’s not important.

“Whatever, let’s get going.”

The trio head off down the street at a leisurely walking pace. Emma having opted to walk the kid home instead of drive since it’s such a nice day. 

“Do you think we saw the same girl?” Snow asks the blonde.

Emma shrugs her shoulders, the material on her red jacket crinkling slightly at the movement. How she’s wearing a full leather jacket in this heat, is anyone’s guess. “Not sure. When I saw her she was crying and looked like a total mess.”

“What do you mean?” Henry pipes up curiously.

She shoots a quick smile at him. “Jeans were muddy, hair was tangled, makeup was smeared. She looked like she was in trouble.”

Snow furrows her brows. “Oh, maybe it wasn’t the same girl then. When I was talking to her she looked very clean. Her hair was brushed and she was wearing a very nice, clean outfit. She seemed scared though. And very hungry.”

“Yeah,” Emma sighs. “I’m going to check the orphanage for any sight of her.”

Henry drops his gaze to his shoes, kicking a rock out of his path. His kid sister doesn’t have a home right now.

The conversation tapers off until the trio reach the large, white mayoral mansion. 

“Kid I have to run some errands, MM is it possible for you to stay with him for a little while?”

“Im old enough to be home by myself Ma,” he protests

She fixes him with a stern eye, that he’s almost positive that his Mom had taught her, “After the stunt you pulled this morning, no way.”

Snow smiles enthusiastically, her white teeth lighting up her face. “Sure! I’d love to!” She chirps 

Henry smiles but grimaces slightly, catching his Ma smirking at him. He then shoots her a glare in return. If anything, her smirk gets bigger.

“Thanks Mom.” Emma waves the pair off. 

“Bye Emma!”

“Bye Ma.” 

The pair watch the blonde trot off down the street. The smiling brunette turns to him. “So what do you want to do?”

Henry sighs. He’d really been hoping to go out and find his sister. He smiles. He’s got a sister


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ Possible Trigger Warning ⚠️ 
> 
> Hey loves. 
> 
> This chapter deals with brief mentions of sexual assault and rape. Please please please, if anything like that triggers you, be cautious. I want everyone to feel safe here.  
> I know it’s kinda common that Regina’s past is written to contain abuse and marital rape which I’ve semi-alluded to in this chapter. 
> 
> I also know that canonically, Regina doesn’t talk much about her life before Storybrooke so Heather talking so casually about it may be a bit off putting and very OOC. Also I wanted Henry to still be angry with Regina and calling Emma his mother like in season 1 even though he’s 13 in this story and not 10/11. 
> 
> Let me know what you think. 
> 
> Bre <3

2 hours ago, Regina had said her final good nights to her son and headed into her study to do some extra paperwork. An hour ago, She’d walked up the spiral staircase and entered her room for her nightly bath and glass of wine. 20 minutes ago, Regina peeked in on the slumbering form of her 13 year old. 19 minutes ago, Henry opened his eyes, smiled and unlatched his window, sitting on the ledge of the sill. 15 minutes ago the light in his moms room went out. 1 minute ago, the teen spied the timid frame of his sister emerge from the shadows of his garden. Now he slips from the sill and quickly cascades down the tree alongside his bedroom window in a very familiar and practiced manoeuvre. 

Heather startles when a smaller body than she’s used to quietly lands on the cobblestone pathway next to her. 

A small nervous giggle escapes her throat when Henry stands upright and the top of his head only meets the height of her top lip. She’s so used to having to look up when he’s around. It’s strange to be taller than him, something that had never ever been the case with them.

“You’re here!” He grins brightly. 

A small sad smiles flits across her own face. She remembers that smile. It’s only been very very recently that they’ve gotten to see that smile back on adult Henry’s face. 

“Yeah. I’m here.”

He’s practically vibrating with excitement, his toes bouncing up and down rapidly on the cobblestone. 

“This is so awesome!”

“Shh. Shh. Careful. Mom has the hearing of bat.” She replies her hand coming up to her mouth to practically whisper at him. She then rolls her eyes and mutters under her breath. “A magically trained bat.”

“You know that is so true. I once-“ his genetic rambling stops as quickly as it starts. He narrows his eyes. “You said mom.”

The brunette girl nods cautiously. 

“So Regina adopted another kid.” He concludes flatly. 

Her first instinct is to deny the conclusion and set him straight but her mind catches onto something he said. 

“Regina?”

His stance shifts and straightens with tension. 

“Don’t you mean mom?” 

Henry grinds his teeth. “She isn’t my mom! Emma’s my mom.”

Heather just gapes at him. He’d told her in the future that he was a little shit when he was younger but she hadn’t realized the extent of his shittiness. Whenever the topic had been brought up in her time, her mom had smiled sadly at Henry but still looked at him with love in her eyes. But as long as she’s been around, they’ve always been incredibly close. There never seemed like any tension between them. Like seriously, Henry takes after Mom so much. She personally thinks she’s equally both of Mom and Ma. Her mischief, wit and magic comes from her Mom while a lot of her traits and tendencies come from her Ma. She loves hot chocolate with extra cinnamon, anything greasy is instantly her best friend and she too had recieved the Swan superpower that she’s recently discovered that Snow did not give her. Maybe it was Charming? She shakes her head, back to the shit for brains. 

“What?”

“Regina is the Evil Queen.” He snaps.

The teen takes a deep calming breath. It probably won’t do to punch her brother, who so happens to be younger and smaller than her at the time, in the nose. She smirks at the memories of how she got the scars on her knuckles. Let’s just say, Ma taught her at a young age that if a boy is chasing you, harassing you or generally doing anything that makes you uncomfortable, he deserves a knuckle sandwich. Teeth hurt though man. They also apparently cut deep.

“Please tell me you’re joking.”

He huffs and crosses his arms in a way that makes him seem much younger and more childish than his 13 years. “It’s in the book Heather. She killed hundreds of people, cursed Snow White and then cursed the whole town which meant that My grandparents had to put my mom in a tree and send her away.”

She can feel her magic bubbling under her skin. Her mom once told her that magic is emotion, especially for her. When she gets exceptionally angry, it can be hard to reign it in. 

“Henry, I’m going to say this once. I want you to listen to me very closely,” her voice goes low and he can clearly see her face darken even in the shadows of the garden. “That book you’re so fond of? Did it ever tell you the story of Daniel?” 

The boys face scrunches up as his mind makes a connection between her words and his middle name. 

“Yeah that’s right, the Daniel that you’re named after. Daniel was Mom’s stable boy. Long story short, Regina was so deeply in love with him that she tried to run away from her family with him. Snow White, our grandmother, told Cora that Regina wouldn’t be marrying the king after he proposed, she’d be marrying Daniel after they left. Cora didn’t like that. Cora killed Daniel.” Henry gapes silently. “Right in front of our mother. Cora then accepted the Kings marriage proposal on behalf of Regina and forced her into a loveless union between a 17 year old girl and a 60 year old man, all because of one 11 year old girl, spilling a secret she promised to keep. Was any of that in your book?”

Henry stares at her wide eyed. He shakes his head. “She killed people.”

Her magic crackles dangerously at her fingertips. “Ok Henry. I think you’re old enough to hear this.” She sends a silent “I’m sorry” to her mom before speaking. “Henry do you know what rape is?”

He shifts uncomfortably. “Forced sex.”

“Right. And what do you think happened when our mother was forced to marry a man she didn’t know who was almost 4 times her age?”

He pales and his eyes fill with tears. He shakes his head uncontrollably. “No.”

“Yeah Hen.” Her darkened expression gives way to a grim nod. “She thought Snow ruined her life. In some ways she did. I’m not excusing the horrible things she did in the past and maybe for you the not so distant past but in my time, she’s the best mom in the entire world. She’s kind and patient and understanding but also strict when I need it. When you need it too. She’s your mother Henry. She took you in when Emma couldn’t. Emma who’s parent’s had the choice to keep her with them. Snow and David made the decision to send her away. They didn’t have to. Now I’m not saying that everything is Snows fault either but she isn’t the perfect ‘hero’ that the book says she is. You could have been living in a foster home Henry, Hungry and unloved but Regina loved you. Your book knows nothing. No one ever asks the ‘Villains’.” Her speech is punctuated with heavy breaths from the anger seeping out of her blood. Her magic simmers back down to a dull, calming thrum underneath her fingertips. 

Tears spill down his cheeks. Heather sighs before pulling his body into a protective hug. “I’m sorry Hen but you needed to hear it.”

He gasps into her shoulder. “I’ve been so mean to her.”

“I’m sure you have. But she loves you kid.”

“I know.”

She pulls his body back. His face is red and blotchy and there’s snot running down his nose. She grimaces, now she sees why her mom was always so grossed out. She raises an eyebrow. 

“You do?”

He nods. “I know she loves me. She says it all the time, even when I’m being mean to her.” He wipes his nose on his sleeve, smiling slightly when Heather winces. 

“Well then, you know what you have to do?”

He sighs pitifully. “Say it back?”

She nods. 

“Can I tell you something else?” She asks softly.

“What?” He dreads the thought of her words attacking him again. 

“Emma is a pretty awesome Ma to us too.”

A smile blooms across his face at the thought of his blonde mother. He opens his mouth to make a joke but stops when her words catch up to him. 

“Us?” He whispers. 

She smiles brightly and chuckles. “Yeah Hen. Us. Emma is my mom too.”

“She had another kid?”

“Yeah.”

“But you call Regina mom.”

She nods and waits for the penny to drop. “I do. She’s my mom.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Henry.” She takes a deep breath not quite sure how he’ll react considering his very recent surge of realization about his adopted mother. “Emma is my biological mother.” He nods. “And so is Regina.”

That’s when the light in the upstairs window clicks on.


	9. Chapter 9

Regina’s dark brown eyes snap open. She lays there in her bed, a blanket of silence surrounding her. She has no idea what woke her so suddenly. Then she feels it. 

Magic. Very powerful magic. And it’s close.

She sits up quickly. Whoever it is, she’s never encountered their magic before but it does feel familiar in some way. It feels to her very similarly as her own. This unknown sorcery zips and crackles in the air. It’s very stable but at the same time highly unstable. It’s unsettling to say the least. 

Without much warning, as fast as it appeared, it’s now gone. The warmth fading from her body, no longer tugging and rippling against her own magic.

It’s still close. She can sense it. Where is this magic coming from. It’s unlike any she’s connected with before. If she wasn’t as accomplished a sorceress as she is, she might have mistaken it for Emma’s light magic. Their signatures are very similar. It’s very difficult to explain, they just are. And yet, hers is to. Familiar. Strange. 

The mayor quickly flips her duvet from atop her legs, freeing them enough for her to slip out of the silken sheet covered bed. She pads towards the lamp switch upon the table next to her bed. With a gentle click, her room is appropriately lit, just enough light to cover the area in a soft golden glow. With an afterthought she glances towards the antique clock on the mantle of her dresser. 12:09 it reads. She rolls her eyes. If anyone is out there at this time, she is going to fry first and ask questions later. 

She approaches her large window hidden tastefully behind satin curtains. She wrenches them apart. 

Nothing. 

A frown grows on her face. Maybe she should check on Henry.

——

“Quick, over here!” Heather pulls her brother almost roughly towards the side of the white mansion. In her famous hiding spot that she’d discovered at 14, there is no way you can seen anything from Regina’s bedroom. A perfect blind spot. 

The pair wait In a tense silence for a moment before Heather gaps loudly. 

“What?” Henry’s face betrays his panic. 

“She’s going to go to your room.”

“What?”

“That’s what mom does. She did it to me all the time. I was always awake so I knew and It was totally annoying for a long time but then she-“ she makes a face at him. “Doesn’t matter. I just know that she’s going to check on you. You need to go!”

Her words not making much sense in his panicked mind, he shakes his head wildly. “No I can’t get up the tree that quick. She’s probably already halfway there.”

Heather fumbles for a moment before waving her hand. A ladder appears from their very spot up the sharp incline to his bedroom window.

-

In the hallway, Regina pauses. There’s that magic again. She debates turning back before shaking her head and continuing to her son’s room.

-

With shock and awe still present on his face, the boy climbs the ladder as quickly as he can. He needs to get to his room before his mom does. He also needs to hug her, his heart pangs. 

Thank goodness his window is still wide open. He slips inside, shuts the sliding glass and practically swan dives into his bed, throwing the covers over his body. His door opens a literal second after he feigns sleep. He cracks one eye open just enough to see the outline of his moms features smiling sleepily at him and his heart pangs again. He’s treated her horribly. He still feels the betrayal and anger at her but not as deep, maybe he needs to start working through it. He pretends to roll over and fidget. Regina pads softly across his carpeted floor and gently smooths his hair back. She runs warm and soothing motherly fingers though his hair before kissing his forehead. 

“Mom?” He whispers, exaggerating the croak In his voice.

“I’m here my Little Prince.”

“I love you mommy.”

Her smile is so absolutely blinding that Henry almost breaks character and smiles himself.

“I love you too.” With one last look and loving smile, she turns around and exits the room, closing the door behind her. 

After a few moments, a small ting flys across his window. He frowns. There it goes again. 

He creeps out from under the blankets just as another pebble hits his window. He figures that’s his sister’s way of telling him ‘all clear’.

He opens the window back up just in time to see her retreating back into the shadows. 

“Wait!” He whisper yells.

She appears back before him a questioning look on her face.

He gestures for her to come up to his room. She shakes her head no. He stares her down then gestures again. This time she hesitates but follows his directions. The same way he got up, she follows. With a wave of her hand, the ladder disappears. 

“You have magic.”

She nods. “I do. Is that a problem.”

He shakes his head with a wide smile. “It was true love wasn’t it?”

Her jaw drops ever so slightly. 

His grin softens out. “Emma came to Storybrooke to bring back the happy endings. If Snow White took away Mom’s, it only makes sense that her daughter, the bringer of happy endings, would bring hers too. Emma is Moms true love.”

Heather shakes her head with a rueful grin. Of course he’d figure that out. “She is.”

Henry perches himself on the she of his bed. “Awesome.”

“What?”

He shrugs. “I hate Captain Hook. I mean he was cool but he doesn’t make Ma happy.” He blinks as a look of realization crosses his face. “No wonder I keep catching Ma staring at Mom when she’s not looking. Ma totally loves Mom!”

Heather chuckles lightly. Ma always did that. She sighs and shuffles her feet awkwardly. She jabs her thumb over her shoulder. “K, well I should be going. I-“

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“I-what?”

Henry grins and pulls a second pillow from his bed and grabs the blanket draped across chair in the corner. He drops them both on the floor, smiling widely at the girl. “You should stay here. I know it’s not your room but...”

A few tears well in her emerald eyes. “No. It’s perfect.”

Henry boldly steps forward and wraps his arms tightly around her waist. She tightens her own around his shoulders. 

“I’m going to like having a sister,” he whispers. 

She sniffles in his hair, a watery grin appearing. “Yeah man. You’re going to love me.”


	10. Chapter 10

Bright rays of sunlight peek through thick curtains and collect to assault his eyes. 

Heavy hazel orbs blink open upon the intrusiveness of the light shining on what was his ‘dead to the world’ sleep position.

Henry shuts his eyes and rolls over with a loud and highly disturbed groan, his hand falling to the floor with a heavy thud.

“Ow!”

The boy’s eyes snap back open and he cautiously turns his head to peer over the side of the bed. In his haste to get away from the annoying light, his hand had fallen off the bed and landed smack into his sister’s face. No pun intended.

Henry jumps up so incredibly fast that his head spins and black dots dance across his eyes. He shakes his head roughly. He thought it had all been a dream.

“Heather!” He beams, his hand falling back down to poke her shoulder just in case he’s hallucinating.

“I’m up,” she groans, batting his hand away sleepily, “I’m up.” She too rolls over and then shoves her face deep into last nights borrowed pillow.

He giggles and bites his lip softly. “You’re here.” It comes out quietly, disbelieving.

A tired emerald eye pops open and he swears he actually could hear it happening. She sighs and rolls back over to meet his inquisitive eyes. A lazy grin flits across her face. It’s a comforting thought that Henry’s always been this curious. Looking at him now she can see traces of the man he’s to become. It’s still strange though. This is the child that is going to become her big brother. The man she attempted to emulate at every opportunity, the one she even wrote about in school. The man who she, in her head, used to and sometimes still does refer to as her ‘hero’. Not that she’d ever voice that traitorous thought. Seriously, his head would get way too big.

“Yeah Hen, I’m here.”

She pulls herself off the surprisingly comfy carpeted ground, not that mom would have ever had anything different, and stretches. She moans softly as all her joints pop into place with a few satisfying cracks. A small chuckle escapes her lips when she spies her little older brothers wince. That has never changed.

He sits excitedly on his bed wanting to bounce but holding it desperately in when he sees how calm and collected she is. With a wave of her hand, her clothes from last night are replaced with fresh garments. Now he does start bouncing.

“Me too!” The words slip past his lips without his permission. He claps a hand over his mouth, a flush creeping up his neck.

Heather rolls her eyes affectionately, cause c’mon, how often does she get to play around with magic when her big brother is 3 or 4 years younger than her. With another wave, his pyjamas are replaced with his school uniform. His hair brushed and his face washed.

“Woah!”

“Cool huh?”

“Uh yeah!” His hazel eyes sparkle with excitement.

He plops back down on his bed watching her conjure a brush to comb out her long chocolate curls, being mindful of the snags and snarls from sleeping on the floor. 

As she’s combing her hair in the mirror on the back of Henry’s door, she can see his gaze glaze over as his mind wanders. She’s expecting it when the questions start flowing.

“What’s the future like?”

She shrugs. “It’s good.”

He waits a beat then makes an exasperated face. “That’s it?”

She meets his eyes in the mirror. “What more do you want me to say?”

He rolls his eyes. “I don’t know, do I become president? I bet I’m president.”

A smirk blooms. “I can’t tell you that.”

He narrows his eyes. “Why not?”

“Future consequences.” Yes! She’s always wanted to say that ever since Ma introduced her to Charmed when she first started exhibiting her powers. God bless Christopher Perry Halliwell.

Henry exhales heavily and crosses his arms. “That’s stupid.”

She shrugs again just finishing with her hair.

”How old are you?”

She furrows her brows and narrows her eyes suspiciously. “Why?”

”Just wanted to know.” He dismisses her question with another quiet huff.

After a moment, she answers softly, “16.”

He grins widely then starts to chatter on with more questions.

“What about Mom and Ma? Are they still together? Do we have any more siblings? What about Grandma and Grandpa, do they have any more kids?”

Her body is stiff as he rambles on his questions. “Henry,” her voice is wrought with tension, “please, I can’t answer your questions.”

The boy stomps his foot with an irritated scowl. “Why not” he whines.

Her entire body whips around to meet his, her frame trembling and her hands clenched tightly into fists by her sides. “BECAUSE I CAN’T!”

A knock on his door cuts of whatever response he might have been about to say. His face having dropped and now completely shocked.

“Henry?” It’s Regina. 

He quickly snaps out of it and Henry’s panicked eyes move to meet Heathers. She hesitates not quite knowing what to do.

“Get in the closet!” He whispers shouts

“What?!” She whispers back incredulously

He points sharply to the closet across the room. She rolls her eyes but scurries to comply.

The brunette opens his bedroom door just as his mothers fist is poised to knock again.

“Morning Mom.”

She’s surprised but she covers it up quickly. He isn’t usually awake and already dressed when she comes to get him. She was actually expecting to have to wake him up. “Who are you talking to?”

He shrugs his shoulders opening the door wide enough for her to enter which she promptly does. “Just myself.”

“ I thought I heard arguing.”

He shrugs again. A nervous thought enters his brain as the woman peers around his room for anything out of the ordinary. He quickly bends down to collect the spare blanket and pillow off the floor. He looks up after chucking them back on his bed to see his mother posed with a perfectly sculpted eyes brow quirked up.

“Fell off my bed during the night.”

She nods. “I’m sure.” Then sighs. “Ms Swan is downstairs whenever you would like to join us.”

Henry beams. “Emma’s here?”

Regina places her hands on her hips. “Apparently, the two idiots were being...”

“Idiotic?” He suggests coyly.

Regina primly fixes an already perfect strand of her hair, not even pretending to that she wasn’t already thinking it.

“We’ll be downstairs.” She then leaves.

-

Henry practically glares a hole in her head telling her to get in the closet.

She huffs irritated.  
_ I’ve never been forced into a closet in my life, metaphorically or literally. _

She’s always been incredibly open with her sexuality and considering where and who she came from, it was never an issue.

She peers through the open space between the door frame and the door, the small crack allowing her to see Regina as she enters the room and speaks to her brother.

Heather cracks a wide smile when her mom doesn’t acknowledge Henry finishing her sentence for her.

A small sad smile flickers across her lips.

“Mom.” She whispers it wistfully. 


	11. Chapter 11

Henry watches his mom walk down the hall with his head popped halfway out of his doorway. When he’s sure she’s finally out of hearing range he sighs in relief and shuts the door gently. 

Leaning his head heavily on the wood he mumbles out his words. “All clear.”

He turns as Heather fails to emerge even after his reassurance. His brows furrow as he moves to open the doors for her.

The look on her face is... something. He can’t quite make sense of it and before he has a chance to figure it out, she blinks and it’s gone. Wow. That’s definitely a mom move. 

“What was that?” He asks

She forces a grin into her face. It’s too big, too many of her teeth are showing. That right there, is 100% Emma’s fake smile. 

“That was way too close.” She responds flicking a chocolate curl over her shoulder as though he hadn’t said a word.

He too is also a perfect combination of his mothers so he doesn’t allow her to change the subject. He steps right into her line of sight and crosses his arms. 

“No no. What was with the face?”

She shrugs just slightly too high to be normal. “I don’t know what you mean Henry.” She chuckles and once again tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. 

She has a tell. 

“You’re lying.”

She winces. Damn their superpower. She licks her lips.

“Henry, I don’t know what you want from me.” Her shoulders drop. 

In the reverse, his shoulders tense. “Why won’t you answer me?”

Her body sags as if in defeat. “I can’t tell you anything.”

“Yes you can. I can help.”

“No. I can’t. I can’t tell anything. Believe me I want to. But I can’t.” Her eyes drop to the floor, her shoulders hanging low. 

Suddenly he has a name for her expression. She looked... sad. Incredibly sad. Like he looked when Neal died. His face pales.

“Is, everybody’s ok in the future right?”

A tear slips down her cheek. “I can’t tell.”

He’s angry now. “Yes! Yes you can tell me! If something happens to them I deserve to know! they’re my moms!”

“They’re mine too!” Her voice cracks. Her teary green eyes meet his as his face drops and his eyes now start to rapidly fill with liquid.

“You have to tell me Heather.” His voice breaks. His crossed arms drop down to his sides.

Her arms move up to clutch around her waist. As if she’s literally attempting to hold herself together. “I can’t tell you Henry. One little word could ruin everything. If I say anything to you, I could be rewriting history. I might not be born.”

He doesn’t want her to be erased from existence but he wants to know. He needs to.

She shakes her head quickly and roughly wipes away the spilled tears on her cheeks. He watches in utter fascination as her green orbs harden and her posture shifts from defeated to tall. He can almost see the walls building up around her. 

“I’m sorry Henry. I’m not talking about it anymore.”

“FINE!” He growls, snatching his backpack off the floor and stomping out of his room, taking great care to slam his door behind him.

“Hey kid! Don’t slam doors,” he hears Emma’s voice call out to him from downstairs along with the quiet chastisements from Regina for yelling across the house.

He stops. He left her there. The boy sighs. He understands. He wants her to be born. If his Moms are going to be happy like she says, she needs to be born. 

Henry rolls his eyes and turns back around finding Heather still standing in the same spot, her eyes wide. He doesn’t get a word out before she’s barreling into him with hot rivulets coursing down her face. 

“I’m sorry.”

His arms flail In a wondrous impression of Emma before they instinctively wrap around her slightly taller frame. 

“I don’t know...what to do. Hen. I’m so-scared.” Her words come out rushed between sobs as she full on breaks down. The tension he’d seen all of yesterday, last night and the instant she woke up this morning comes crashing down. Right. He’s the big brother.

“It’s ok.” He soothes. “I’m sorry.”

He just stands there with her as she cries, never complaining and the only words spoken between them are his gentle though a little awkward reassurances. 

“Henry! Breakfast!” Emma calls

Heather breaks away practically jumping back from his embrace. A bright red flush works it’s way up her neck as she wipes away the tears.

“Sorry.” She whispers. 

“It’s ok.” He answers back. Wow they must look a mess. Both of them crying and now disheveled.

“Henry!”

He rolls his eyes. 

“Coming!” He calls back.

She nods shuffling her feet and tucking her hair back. “I should go.”

He agrees. “If we’re going to be investigating a way to get you back, We need an operation name.”

A grin grows. “Yeah we do.”

He ponders for a moment. “Operation Back To The Future!”

She pops her hip out to one side and crosses her arms. “That’s the best you could come up with?”

He shrugs. “Give me some time.”

“Seriously kid!” Emma calls again. This time they can both hear Regina in the background scolding the blonde sheriff.

“I’ll meet you in the library at 11.”

She nods and watches as he leaves.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey loves!
> 
> I’m so pumped for this story right now! I’ve pretty much finished the outlines of where I want this story to go, the work will really start when it comes time to actually sit down and write each chapter though. 
> 
> This is probably one of the more detailed stories I’ve ever written so I’m having a lot of fun with this. This is technically my first OUAT story and I’m really trying to get the characterization right of everyone so if you guys have any opinions or comments about anything, I’d love to hear them!
> 
> Thanks! 
> 
> Bre <3

Henry starts down the stairs, his mind still reeling from the rapid fire events occurring at breakneck speed. From what he’s gathered, a whole lot of nothing, there’s probably a reason that his sister was sent back instead of it being a freak coincidence. He shuffles through the info in his head:

1\. She has no idea how she got here or why: this would suggest that something sent her back instead of an accident on her part  
2\. Something bad happens in the future: he has no idea what but he thinks it has to do with one or maybe both of their moms  
3\. It’s going to be hard to figure anything out without Regina or Emma’s help and they definitely can’t go to Rumplestiltskin; that would be worse

At the bottom of the stairs he turns the corner and enters the kitchen where a scene that’s becoming increasingly familiar greets him.

Emma is resting at the island in the middle of the kitchen on a tall bar stool. Her elbows rest on the table clasped at her hands just as Regina is sliding a plate of breakfast in front of her. 

She grins wildly at the older woman and unceremoniously starts shovelling eggs and toast in her face completely disregarding the fruit. Ew, healthy. 

“Hey kid,”

Regina watches on in a sort of disgusted fascination as she makes up another plate for her son. 

“Really Emma? There is something called manners.” The woman scolds lightly, tapping at the sheriffs elbow. 

The blonde smiles sheepishly as she slowly drops her elbows off the table and consciously slows her eating. 

“Good morning Sweetheart.” Regina smiles at her son. After last nights little late night words, she’s feeling slightly better at the prospect of repairing their relationship. 

Henry shoots her a small smile. “Thanks mom.”

The woman practically beams. It’s been a while since he’s called her mom when he’s been consciously thinking about it. 

Emma grins wildly at the pair of them. The kid had been breaking her heart at his treatment of the only parent he’s had for however many years. She’s glad he’s finally starting to loosen up on the former queen. 

Heather smiles to herself. She sits on the landing at the top of the stairs listening in on the trio’s conversation. She’s glad Henry is taking her words to heart. 

Regina starts to say something but cuts herself off when she sees the puffy red rings around Henry’s eyes.

“Henry!” She gasps. “What happened, are you ok?”

He looks down in confusion before remembering that he’d been crying. 

“Oh. Yeah uh. Allergies I think. My eyes were really watering.”

Heather scoffs. Wow he’s a terrible liar. 

His mother continues to look on in concern and it’s starting to make him paranoid. She finally breaks off after a few more moments.

“Well, alright. Maybe I should ask Whale about allergy testing.”

“Regina, I’m sure he’s fine.” Emma inserts 

He smiles at her gratefully. 

Biological mother and son eat in silence for a few moments as Regina is turned to the counter chopping up strawberries for her own Oatmeal. 

The boy opens his mouth to speak but catches the blonde eyes staring off, half glazed over. He follows her gaze and instantly breaks off into a fit of giggles, shooting his Ma a look. 

Emma tears her eyes from the scrumptious view of the Mayors ass in that tight black pencil skirt of hers and blushes hard. Damn that kid. She just manages to get it under control when the brunette turns back and takes a seat.

“Hey moms?”

“Yes dear?” Regina answers sipping her cup of coffee regally. 

“So I know I’m like housebound and all...”

The women share a look. This should be good.

“But I was wondering if I could meet up with a friend of mine at the library?”

“Absolutely not.” Regina says in an instant.

“But mom-”

“Henry, you’re grounded.” She says firmly.

“But I-“

“Your mom said no kid.” Of course Emma chooses this to be the time she finally agrees with Regina.

The mayor sends her a proud look and the blonde practically melts. 

“Moms! My friend is helping me out with school.”

Heather raises an eyebrow. Yeah ok. See how that excuse works out.

Downstairs, Regina raises the exact same brow. 

“What is your friend helping you with?”

Henry hangs his head. “She’s tutoring me.” He mumbles 

“She.” 

“What?”

“It’s a she?”

He hesitates. “Um. Yes.”

Emma tries desperately not to laugh out loud at the hilarious expression of dismay on the mayors face and the equally as funny look of apprehension on the kids. 

“Do I know her?”

He shakes his head. “She’s new.” It’s not a lie. 

“What’s her name?” Emma pipes up still trying to get over the look on Regina’s face. 

He scrambles for a name. Then it pops into his head. 

“Dove.” He grins proud of himself for remembering the fake one she’d given him yesterday. 

Emma wrinkles her nose.

“What kind of a name is that?” 

Regina throws her an exasperated look.

The blonde shrugs unapologetically. Eh who is she to judge. Her mothers name is Snow White. 

“Her name is the last thing I care about, though I do protest any word with a connotation of White.” Regina sniffs. “Who is this girl?”

“Just a friend of a friend.” He tries to play off. 

Emma narrows her eyes. Her superpower flares. 

Heather rolls her eyes and huffs. This kid definitely did not inherit his mothers ability to lie. That much is incredibly clear. Man he is actually bombing it. There is no way Emma can’t see right through him.

The blonde gears up for an interrogation “Where’d you meet her?”

“The park.” It’s pretty much the truth 

“What’s she tutoring you on?”

“The Enchanted Forest,” also not technically a lie

Regina protests. “We could have helped you with that.”

He shrugs.

The sheriff goes in for her final question at rapid fire speed. “Is she pretty?”

Henry makes a face and she smiles. 

“Yeah sure you can go.”

Regina balks. “Ms Swan!”

The blonde grins and drops her head to rest on her fist. She then flutters her eyes lashes exaggeratedly. “Aw we’re back to Ms Swan again?”

Regina rolls her eyes so hard Emma swears they’re going to fall out of her head. “We are when you make farcical decisions about our son without consulting me first.”

Emma chuckles lightly disregarding the glare being sent her way. “Who uses the word farcical? What does that even mean?”

The mayor shakes her head at the woman. Maybe her parents aren’t the only idiotic ones. Though unfortunately for her, for some ridiculous reason, she permits Emma’s apparently inherited idiocy. Why? Well she wishes not to think about it at the moment. Not that she’ll ever tell Emma that fact, the blondes head would grow 10x it’s size. 

“I do dear. It’s unfortunate that you never acquired the use of language past the Palaeolithic Era.” The brunette smirks knowing that she’s just confusing the woman more.

The blonde shoots a ‘WTF’ look to her son who giggles and whispers back, “Stone Age,”

Emma nods in recognition. “Well Madame Mayor, who needs an extensive use of language when you look this cute?” She throws back, glad when the woman snaps her head up.

Emma smiles fondly at her even as the brunette glowers back.

Henry hides a small smirk. Emma really is transparent. She’s totally crushing hard. It’s hard to read Regina though. Who knows what she’s thinking.

The brunette urns back to her son and sighs harshly. “Fine.” She concedes 

Henry jumps up in excitement. 

“But that’s it. Tutoring only.”

“Thanks mom!”

“And I want to meet her.”

Heather literally facepalms from upstairs. She knew he wouldn’t make it. 

Shit.


	13. Chapter 13

They meet at the library at 11 like planned. 

She’s there for a while before he shows up, in that time she gets a feel for the area. In her time it’s all boarded up, no one even goes into the building after the ‘event’.

She’s fingering a novel about a dystopian world where everyone is under constant surveillance and no ones identify is their own. Unfortunately, she relates some of the authors synopsis to her own life. Her Ma is a little... let’s say paranoid in the future. 

The door to the library squeaks opens and where she’s expecting the 13 year old form of her brother, she’s greeted with the taller form of a woman instead.

“Belle.” She whispers to herself. She recognizes the woman from pictures of Henry’s from... well now. This time. In the future, Belle is gone. No one ever told her what happened to the sweet woman but she knows that she left and Mr Gold went straight off the deep end. He held a serious grudge against her mother as she was growing up. That she does know. 

The woman spies the teen from the peripheral of her gaze as she strips off her cardigan and places her bag on the front desk. She spins around with a startled expression on her face.

“Oh.” A hand raises to her chest. “You frightened me.”

Heather steps back. “I’m sorry, I- the door was open.”

“No, that’s alright I just wasn’t expecting anyone. The library is often very quiet.” The woman smiles, her accent as soft as her knitted cardigan.

“I’m, I’m meeting a friend here for schoolwork.”

Belle grabs a handful of books off the desk and moves to start sorting them out. She passes the teen with a thoughtful nod and a quick glance. “Let me know if there’s anything I can help you with.”

“Thank you,” Heather whispers. What the hell this sweet woman ever saw in Mr Gold, she’ll never know. Obviously it turned bad or something happened to make her leave in the future. She just hopes that Belle doesn’t end up too hurt.

Her hands continue on a path as worn pages pass under her fingertips. She breathes in deeply, always having loved the smell of new books, who cares about electronic novels and devices when there are physical paper pages able to be turned between your fingers. 

A sad smile forms on her face as her eyes rest upon a thick hardcover novel. She reaches out with gentle hands, prying the book from its resting spot.

Oliver Twist. Regina read that book to her when she was younger. Well some of it. They’d never quite finished. With 2 chapters left, Heather never learned how it ended. She didn’t want to. 

The bell on the front door chimes as Henry enters the building. Heather, without really thinking about it, keeps the book in her hands as she goes to meet him.

“Hey,” he puffs out, breathless from running from the school as quickly as he could.

“Hey,” she whispers right back.

He leads them to a table in the back corner, well away from Belle after he’d waved to her in passing.

“So I came up with a better name for our operation.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Get this,” he spreads his arms out wide and smiles largely, “Operation McFly,”

Heather chuckles. “Very clever.”

“I thought so.”

He spies her clutching the novel to her chest unconsciously. “What that?”

She follows his gaze. “Oh uh. A book.”

He grins cheekily. “Well yeah, I got that.”

She shrugs. “Just a book that Mom and I started reading.”

Her words settle in his heart.

“Started,” he whispers. “You never finished?”

She shakes her head, her eyes refusing to meet his. 

“She dies doesn’t she? Mom?”

Heather closes her eyes heavily. Then she forces herself to nod. Ah fuck the timeline. 

A puff of breath escapes Henry’s lips. “How?” His voice cracks

The teen shakes her head. “I don’t know.”

“What the hell do you mean you don’t know!” Henry slams his hand on the table startling her so bad that she flinches violently. 

“No one knew, they couldn’t figure it out. She got sick and she kept getting sicker.”

It’s like a punch to the gut. “When,” he chokes out.

“I can’t tell you that.”

“What can you tell me then?! My mom is going to die. Tell me what happens!”

Her shoulders drop, her body curls in on itself. “There isn’t much to say Hen. She died, Emma broke and you left.”

“I left?”

“You couldn’t be around any more. You didn’t want to stay. Emma... lost it, she lost herself for a while,” she lifts a finger to brush away an errant tear, “you know we don’t have a library in my time cause Ma burnt it to the ground in grief.”

He silently gapes at her. 

“The only way she could cope with anything was to stop feeling entirely. The grief she felt overwhelmed her and she lost a chunk of herself to darkness. Basically to stop it, she shut her heart down. After you- my Henry moved to Boston, she left the mansion and found a different place to stay. I couldn’t leave. I didn’t want to. Eventually Ma moved back in but it took a while.” The teen says each word with careful consideration yet all Henry can see is how calmly she’s saying it. 

“So that’s it.” He deadpans. “My future self left my little sister and my Ma after mom died? I didn’t bother sticking around? What the hell happened? Did we all just act like she never existed?!”

She doesn’t really want to say the words that come to mind but she knows that Henry wants the truth here. “Like I said, Emma kinda... cut her emotions off. It made her- somewhat cold to people and really paranoid about me. You’re gone so all she has to focus on is keeping me safe and that made me rebel... pretty damn hard.”

“Really?”

“Mmm.” She runs her fingers though her curls, tucking a piece behind her ear and then unconsciously biting down hard on her thumb. Anxious habit.

“What did you do?” He sniffs. Maybe to get his mind off the idea of his mother, the woman who’s been there for every single part of his life, being ripped from him in a way that sounds extremely unpleasant. And it was, very much so. Who knows what he’s thinking right now. But she answers him.

Her left shoulder shrugs up in an almost feigned act of nonchalance. Emma does that too, the thought pops into Henry’s mind. 

“What haven’t I done. I did it all Hen. Ma, suffocates me to the point where I purposely try and act out. I sneak out late at night and party until I can’t stand. I drink until I pass out, I use magic to get my friends and I high. You name it, I’ve probably done it.”

He nods deep in thought. Her fingers stroke the pages of the book she’s still clutching desperately. In the back of her mind she can sense that Belle is somewhere near, slowly and methodically, stacking books away in their proper places.

“No one knows how she died?” He whispers after a few moments of silence.

Her eyes slowly drift upwards to meet his desperate gaze. 

“No.”

His shoulda slump. “She just got sick? Her?!”

Heather licks her lips, the nervous tension building.

He notices her face straight away. Maybe she isn’t such a great liar either. 

“What?”

She sighs. “I- I don’t think that she just got sick.”

His eyes narrow and he scoots forewords in his chair. “What do you mean?”

Her thumb goes back in her mouth. “She came to me in a dream after she died.”

Her hand travels down her neck to finger the pendant on her choker necklace. 

“She did?”

“Yeah.”

“What did she say?”

“It was hard to make out, really hard at some points. What I did hear still doesn’t make much sense.”

She sees the expectant look on her brothers face. “She said ‘stay away’ and ‘blue’ in one sentence. Stay away from the blue? I have no idea. And then she showed me a pendant for a necklace and told me it would give me the answers I seek.”

His face morphs into a sceptical expression. “Are you sure it wasn’t just a dream?”

“Yeah, I’m positive.”

“How?”

“Because when I woke up, the pendant she showed me in my dream was sitting on the floor by my bed. This pendant.” Her fingers move away to reveal a gold swan charm wearing a tiny diamond crown upon its head.

Henry ponders her words. “Blue.”

“What?”

“What does she mean by blue? The blue fairy maybe?”

Heather shrugs and dips her head slightly, a few strands of chocolate locks fall into her eyes. “Maybe. Mom was always wary of her. Didn’t trust her.” 

“Neither does Emma.” He adds. “Do you think she might know something about why you’re here?”

“I don’t know Hen. She might.”

“Well let’s go talk to her then.”

The brunette shakes her head, her curls flying around, framing her face. “Bad Idea. I think we should collect more information before we go knocking on the doors of the convent. Especially since mom and ma doesn’t feel comfortable with her.”

The boy nods. “Let’s go get something to eat yeah? We’ll talk more on the way.”

She nods and stands along with him. Noticing that she still has Oliver Twist in her arms, she moves to put it back on the shelf with a saddened smile. 

“Keep it.” A soft voice calls to her 

She startles in fright. Very comically mimicking the librarians earlier actions towards her. 

“What?”

“That book, it means a lot to you. Keep it,”

“I- I couldn’t, it doesn’t belong to me,”

Belle smiles warmly. “I want you to have it.”

Heather bites her lip until she tastes salt and copper pennies on her tongue before nodding quickly. “Thank you,”

Yeah. She has no idea what Belle ever saw in Rumplestiltskin.

-

Regina’s stiletto heels click out a rhythmic tune as she moves steadily down the streets of Storybrooke. Her town is as busy and bustling with life as ever. She glances down at the elegant watch sitting proudly upon her wrist. She’s running late for a lunch with Emma. She’d gotten caught up with budget reports and lost track of time, hence the quick pace of her feet. 

Making her way into Main St, she’s just a few dozen feet from Granny’s when she spots the pair that stops her dead where she stands. 

What the hell?!

Henry is walking alongside a young woman, both of them with ice cream, laughing and sharing jokes. Who the hell is this girl? Is this Henry’s friend? How old is she?!

Regina’s heels pick up the pace once again and this time she’s speeding towards her son. 

The young pair both halt in their tracks when they see her coming at them like a speeding bullet.

“Henry,” she nods. 

“Hey mom,” he sounds a bit nervous. 

Brown eyes piece the girls Emerald. “You must be...,” her tone is deadly as she leave the words hanging for the teen to finish. 

Heather startles, not used to hearing anything but soft tones coming from her mothers mouth. Even when she was scolding her, there was always an air of tolerance. Now it’s pure ice.

“I’m Dove.” She sees the expectant look on the mayors face. “Main. Dove Main.” She can’t even think about giving herself a pat on the back for thinking that lie up quickly, the ice cream cone long forgotten and now dripping onto her hand.

“Ms Main,” she continues, her tone almost one of disgust. Her eyes linger on the cone literally melting away in front of her eyes, the girl just holding it, allowing it to drop onto her hand. “I assume you are the one tutoring my son?”

“Um, yes.”

“Yes Mayor Mills,” Regina corrects looking down at the girl with distaste. 

Heather sees the woman looking her up and down with a disproving eye. She looks down at her outfit. Ripped acid washed blue jeans, a lilac cropped tank top, a knitted white cardigan falling off one shoulder and a pair of brown heeled boots. Yeah she can totally understand why her mother is looking at her like that. Especially when it comes to her crop top that reveals a blue navel piercing that had been a large act of rebellion against Emma about a year ago. 

“Yes Mayor Mills.” She whispers trying her best not to avoid the woman’s gaze. Her mother never looked at her like that. She doesn’t want to remember anything other than love in her eyes.

Regina clicks her tongue. Henry shoots her a reproachful look.

“How old are you dear?”

“Mom!” He protests

Heather dips her head but then meets the mayors eyes. Her parents always told her that you stay confident in the face of an adversary. She never thought her adversary would be one of those parents though. 

“I’m 16.”

“My son is only 13.”

Henry groans and rolls his eyes.

“Yes Mayor Mills, I’m aware.”

Regina narrows her eyes. 

“Mom. Dove is tutoring me remember? She’s helping.”

The mother sighs and backs down slightly. “Why don’t you come over for dinner tonight... ms Main?”

Henry beams widely, his gaze flickering back and forth between his mom and his sister. Heather feels a heap of dread settle in her stomach but knows that Regina’s request is less of a request and more of an ultimatum.

“I would like that Mayor Mills.”

The woman nods triumphantly before gesturing to Henry to follow her.

“6 o’clock dear. Don’t be late.” 

Heather is left standing there on her own. What the hell has she gotten herself into now


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ Warning! Character Death ⚠️ 
> 
> Thank you all for sticking with me though this story. I hope you’re still enjoying. 
> 
> Bre <3

_ She’s paler than she’s ever been. _

_ Even when she was 7 and her Mom took in another death curse for Ma. She thought she was going to die that day. She didn’t, Ma saved her. “That’s what true loves do, they save each other,” that’s what they told her as they smiled with love in their eyes. So why didn’t it work this time? _

_ She hates the hospital. Too many memories of waking up at her moms bedside or grasping her ma’s hand tightly when Regina was admitted again. It smells like antiseptic and death. This is where people go to die. This is where her mom is going to die. _

_ Mary Margaret’s hand is clutching hers tightly as they walk down the deserted hallway, tears spilling down her cheeks. David’s hand is on her shoulder, his eyes are watery too. Both of them periodically glance down at her with pitiful looks. _

_ Time seems to stop when they finally reach the room at the end of the hallway. They’re standing in front of the nightmare door. _

_ Henry is there, his entire body shaking as he leans into Ma’s embrace. Emma herself isn’t looking much better. Her eyes are red and blotchy, her nose runny. She looks every bit the child who’s puppy was just run over. Heather peeks up when she feels her mothers gaze on her. Emma tries to smile but more tears just slip down her cheeks. Heather can’t remember her Ma ever crying. _

_ “Mom wants to talk to you baby.” Her voice is rough, it’s scary. _

_ Heather glances desperately at her grandparents hoping they’ll tell her that she doesn’t have to go in the nightmare door. They don’t. All they do is smile those pitiful smiles. _

_ Her heart pounds so loud she swears the entire hospital can hear it. It’s not the first time they’ve been there, not even close. As she got older it seemed that ever other year, then month, then week, and eventually everyday they were here. In this spot, this room as the doctors told her little family that they don’t know what it is and they can’t help her mom.  _

_ A shaking hand pushes the door open. Where she expected the slow beeping of the heart monitor, there’s now nothing. No voices, no laughter, no sounds. Her eyes take a moment to adjust to the almost pitch black of the room, only a lamp in the corner shines. Something about the absence of light in this moment is something she knows will be forever ingrained in her head. Slowly a figure emerges in her line of sight. A figure that blinks up at her. _

_ “My sweet...girl,” her voice comes out a barely a whisper. Heather knows now why there’s no light on. Her Mom didn’t want them to see her like this. Weak, frail, something that no one would have ever dared to even think of the former Evil Queen. _

_ She doesn’t say anything. She doesn’t think she can. She just listens with rapt attention as her mother says her goodbyes.  _

_ The young girl takes the hand that’s reaching out to her. With more strength than she’s capable of, Regina holds it close to her chest. She kisses her daughter forehead, the chill on her lips making Heather shiver violently. _

_ “I- love you...” A hacking cough takes over her emaciated form, drops of blood leaking from her lips. “So much.” A final puff of air escapes her now desolate body. _

_ The girl sits there just watching for a moment. There are no feelings in her body. There’s nothing. Maybe it wasn’t her mom that just died, maybe it was her. _

_ “Baby-“Emma enters a question on her lips. She spies the motionless figure and something breaks. The blonde falls to the ground and the most anguished sound escapes into the air. Chaos ensues at that moment. Henry, her grandparents and several doctors file in as fast as they can. David reaches her as Mary Margaret gets to Emma. He lifts her away from her mother as the doctors circle her prone form, taking her out into the hallway. Henry takes one look and leaves. Emma is still screaming, ugly tears rushing past the dark circles around her eyes and down her concave cheeks. Her grandmother holds her and rocks her frame, both of them on the ground together. _

_ Mere moments later, Emma sprints out of the room, Snow calling for her desperately. She doesn’t turn around. As David goes to comfort her grandmother, Heather takes the moment the slip away and follow her mother.  _

_ She stands in the main entrance of the hospital watching as her mother finds the person she’s looking for. Mr Gold sits on the same bench in front of the library as he had everyday for the last 13 years since Belle left. She looks on as Emma’s fist connects with his face. She’s screaming. They share tense words the girl can’t quite make out. The man smirks, says something that causes the blonde to reel in shock and then passes her a book of some kind. Her Ma hurriedly skims through it. _

_ “Heather!” Her grandfather calls. The girl turns to see her grandparents rushing towards her. _

_ When she turns back around, the library is up in flames, Mr Gold’s body is on the ground and her Ma stands there staring at her with pure ice in her eyes and dust slipping from between her fingers.  _

_ —— _

_ Two days later and no one is speaking. Henry hasn’t left his room since the hospital and Emma just recently got home after having to have been sedated. The library is gone. So is Mr Gold. No one quite knows what to do since it was their sheriff that killed him. Who’s going to arrest her. _

_ Regina comes to her in a dream that night. _

_ She’s dressed in pure white. Her body is healthy and glowing in the light that encases her. She smiles brightly as tears spring to her eyes. _

_ “My sweet girl,” she whispers hugging her tighter than she can ever remember. _

_ “Mommy,” this is the first time her tears falls. _

_ “I’m sorry.” _

_ “You left.” _

_ Regina cups her cheeks and smooths back her curls just like she used to do when she was little. “I’m so sorry.” _

_ “Mommy, ma killed him!” She wails, trying to bury herself into her mothers body. _

_ Tears slip down the woman’s cheeks. Her eyes pained. “I know. It’s all my fault.” _

_ “I don’t understand Mommy. How are you here?” _

_ “It’s a dream my love.” _

_ The little girls shakes her head desperately still clinging to her mother. The body against hers gasps. Her arms tear away from her daughter. The white light behind her turns an angry dark red. _

_ “No!” She screams, “I’m not ready.” _

_ “Mommy?!” _

_ Regina’s desperate and panicked eyes meet her emerald ones. Sounds blare out around them as an invisible wind picks up. Her hair whips her face so hard it stings. It’s so loud that she fights the urge to cover her ears. _

_ Her mothers lips move. She can’t hear her. The girl watches on as Regina seems to fight an unseen foe that is attempting to pull her back. _

_ “MOM!” _

_ Her ears strain to hear the words. “Stay away... the blue.” _

_ “What?!” _

_ Brown eyes plead as her body is pulled back. “Stay...from...BLUE!” She pulls a small black box from her pocket and hurls it through the air. Heather catches it at the moment Regina shouts and disappears. _

_ With a scream, the 12 year old bolts up in her bed and pants, her breath coming out in strangled gasps. _

_ Her eyes flit to her clock. 8:27. Today’s the day. _

_ Her eyes find the black dress, her grandmother had hung up the night before. As she stands from the bed, her foot knocks against something small. _

_ A tiny black box rests on the ground. With trembling fingers, she opens it. _

_ A tiny gold swan pendant rests inside upon a purple satin cushion. A miniature silver and diamond crown sits upon the swans head. _

_ Words catch her eye on the lid of the box. She smiles brightly. In her Mom’s perfect handwriting: To show you what you seek. _

_ It wasn’t a dream. It was real. _

_ She conjures a chain into her hand and puts the necklace on. _

_ Later she fingers the pendant as the large gathering breaks up.  _

_ She stares as the man closes the casket. _

_ She’s paler than she’s ever been before _


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry guys! 
> 
> I have very recently learned, as totally obvious as it is, that I am really really bad at working on a time frame or whatever. I can’t even make excuses and say I was doing anything cause I really wasn’t. I don’t know how many of you guys write stories too but you know that when you aren’t feeling it, you really can’t force yourself and have it be good. 
> 
> So I’m sorry again and here is the next chapter.
> 
> Bre <3

She glances down at the watch on her wrist, one with a beautiful Alexandrite encrusted face that her parents had told her was a heirloom to their family after she’d found it during a game of hide and seek when she was 10. Her mother’s had told her that it belonged to every girl in their family for generations and when she turned 16, promised it would be hers. When she was 13 she found it again and claimed it as her own despite her mother’s promise. Heather now, is pretty sure she took it hoping to get a reaction from Emma. It didn’t work, Emma didn’t care. She doesn’t care about much. 

She sighs, straightening her shoulders and wiping invisible dust off her jeans. She takes the extra moments to ensure her hair is perfectly straight and not a strand is out of place. She’s going to put her mothers teaching on proper manners to good use. 

Heather blows out a breath and raises her knuckles to rap gently but still firmly on the white door in front of her. Within seconds the door flies open, an exuberant faced Henry ready to greet her. She’s not as surprised as he’d been expecting. She’d seen his look of utter excitement earlier. She knows her brother well. 

“Hey Heather!”

The girl smiles softly, stepping into the front foyer. “Hey Hen.” Fighting the urge to ruffle his hair playfully, she spins around the room taking in all of the differences from her time. 

When Emma moved back into the manor after her few month stint of refusing to come anywhere near the house, Heather had come home from school one day to find almost all of the family pictures removed from the walls and shelves. Once upon a time, when her family had been whole, almost every surface of the downstairs walls were covered in Heather and Henry’s annual school photos as well as the yearly family picture Regina insisted upon. Every shelf was lined with baby pictures, awards, trophies and more. If her kids had won it or done it, Regina put it on display. Now the walls around her look exactly the same as the ones in her time. 

“Looking for something dear?” Regina’s voice startles her out of her thoughts. She doesn’t flinch. Her parents taught her better. Meet your opponent head on. 

Heather calmly turns around to meet her mothers gaze. The woman is as stunning as always. She watches her nonchalantly pick an invisible piece of lint off of her tight pencil skirt, the teen smirks. She knows her mother, that motion is a power move. Something meant to make guests feel as though she couldn’t care less about them and thus have them lower their guard. Heather doesn’t fall for it. 

She smiles, “Not at all Mayor Mills.” 

The woman stands fractionally taller. She glances down, sweeping her eyes over the brunette’s attire as Henry excuses himself to the kitchen. 

This time the girl is been ready to dress to impress Regina. Well, impress her as much as is humanly possible anyway. She has on a form fitting pair of black jeans with absolutely no rips, tears or holes in them. A tight black tank top is worn under a bright emerald green blazer that is perfectly tailored to her body, bringing out the colour in her eyes in turn making them even more vibrant. Her small feet are encased in a pair of black high heel wedged boots and tying together the ensemble is Heathers ever present crowned swan pendant this time with the charm hanging from a long chain that reaches past her shoulders to rest delicately at her sternum. 

The mayor takes a moment to appraise her before nodding almost to herself and gesturing for the teen to follow before she turns and walks back into the kitchen. Heather smiles, congratulating herself in her head. 

An unconscious sigh escapes her lips as she enters the kitchen and is instantly met with the fabulous aroma of her Mothers cooking. She closes her eyes in a brief moment of bliss. It seems like so long ago that she’d had one of Regina’s meals. The teen spies the pan on the marble counter cooling. Lasagne. Her favourite. 

Her eyes meet Henry’s who’s sitting at the island on a tall bar stool, partially leaning over the counter to look at her. His eyes are wide and excited and she can see his knee bouncing rapidly from under the counter. 

The Queen doesn’t spare her enough glance as she moves to cut the now cooled dinner. 

“Henry?” She calls to her son, “Can you please show our guest to the dining room?”

Henry rolls his eyes to his sister, certain that she knows exactly where everything in the house is but complies with his mothers request, sticking to Heathers plea to not let Regina know. 

“Sure mom.”

“Thank you dear,” she hardly turns her head. 

Heather feels a painful pang in her heart as the lump in her throat starts to build. She didn’t think it would be this hard to see her Mother again let alone be completely ignored by her when she was so used to being doted upon. She supposes it’s the same as what happened with Emma. She’d had to get used to the newfound iciness while still being subjected to her Ma’s overprotection. How that combination even works at all is a mystery to her. 

She hadn’t realized that her face betrayed her feelings until she felt Henry hug her tightly from behind, his face buried in between her shoulders blades. A sharp puff of air escapes her lips with absolutely no permission from her. She’s not a crier, she doesn’t do this but it’s as if being here, in this time, has basically told her brain to fuck it and now she’s a crier. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispers. “She doesn’t know.”

The teen nods and hastily composes herself when she hears their mothers familiar heels on the hardwood floor. Her face is carefully emotionless when Regina enters the dining room with the lasagne. 

“I know.” She whispers back to him, smiling sadly.

Regina glances questioningly towards them when the pair turn to be seated. 

Who is this girl and why does her heart hurt when she finds the sadness lingering in the expression that she’d failed to conceal. 

The children take their seats and Regina serves them both before taking her own at the head of the table. She almost smiles, almost, when Heather takes a bite and a small moan of pleasure escapes her. That is very familiar, but how?

She notices pretty much instantly that Henry can not contain his excitement at the girl being there while... she seems nervous. She supposes anyone would in the Evil Queens dining room. 

She smiles wickedly at the thought of terrifying this young woman praying on her son. 

“So miss...”

The mayor frowns momentarily when her prompt is met with a distinct lack of nerves. 

“Main, mayor Mills.”

She purses her lips slightly. “Right. Frankly Miss Main I would like to know what makes you the best person to tutor my son on the likes of the Enchanted Forest?”

“Mom.” Henry scolds softly 

She barely glances at him, her focus on Heather with her razor sharp gaze. 

Heather looks down towards her lap, noticing Regina’s smirk that soon melts off her face when she realizes that the girl is only moving her napkin to rest on her thighs. She smooths the delicate material. 

“Well Mayor Mills, I come from a family that spent their lives there until the curse brought them to Storybrooke. Ever since I was a young girl, I have studied the history of the Enchanted Forest as well as experiencing it for myself.”

“Is that right?”

“That is right.”

The two brunette women stand off from across the dinner table. Their eyes don’t leave each other’s as they size up theirs opponent. 

Wonderful. The mayor thinks. This is only the second person to ever stand up to me. No one else would dare. Only... Emma.

Her eyes narrow. Emma. That’s who she reminds her of. This tall and almost lanky girl with her princess curls and her bright green eyes that look exactly like the troublesome blonde sheriff’s. 

Yet she knows for a fact that Emma doesn’t have any other siblings and this girl is far too old to be the woman’s daughter. She looks at Heather then at Henry. Yes, far too old to be Emma’s. 

Although... she has the same nose as Henry. And her jawline is very similar. Her eye shape and skin tone are different so she must have a different father. Wait! What the hell is she doing?! Emma does not have anymore children, she would have been what 15 when Heather was born? 

She brushes off the notion. Coincidences happen. 

“Shall we put your knowledge to the test dear?”

“Mom come on. The food is getting cold.” Henry pleads with her.

“It’s fine Hen.” Heather answers noticing how Regina narrows her eyes at her use of his nickname. 

“Who reigned before King Julius IV?”

“King Reginald IX who died of Lung Fever in the 10th year of his reign. He passed before his Son was of age therefore, King Julius was chosen as his successor.”

Henry smiles.

Regina isn’t yet ready to give up. “When did the great Ogre war begin?”

“Which one?”

She raises her chin. “The second.”

“During the 5th year of Queen Lilith the Dominant’s Reign. Her scorned lover declared war on the Ogre’s land in her name after she ended their 10 year affair.” Heather shoots back just as quickly.

“When was the declaration of the Elven Independence signed and by who?”

“The 2nd year of King Harkness’ reign. 4 of the sovereign states initially acknowledged the treaty but refused it once it came to the second set of negotiations. Riots broke out from the 5th state where the Elves were taken from and encompassed the other 4 throwing them into chaos. This continued for several years until King Harkness acknowledged their demands and persuaded the other 4 states to sign the declaration thus, ending a millennium of Elf slavery.”

“When did the Evil Queen take the throne?”

Henry’s smile slips of his face. 

Heather locks eyes with Regina’s. “When did the Evil Queen take the throne or when did Queen Regina?”

“They’re the same.”

The girl shakes her head calmly. “No. They aren’t.”

That’s it. End of conversation. They go back to their plates. 

As much as Regina hates to admit it, this girl has indeed impressed her. That being said, she absolutely refuses to acknowledge the lump building in the back of her throat from the brunette’s casual dismissal of Regina being Evil. 

That, that ability to completely disarm her defences is a very Emma move. 

Another small murmur of approval comes from the teenage girl who’s gone back to her food. Her green eyes closing in bliss. 

Green eyes. Green eyes, green eyes, green eyes. They’re Henry’s eyes. They are certainly Emma’s eyes too. 

Who is this girl?


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I’ve begun to realize that I do my best work, writing wise, at the early hours of the morning. Specifically between 1 and like 4. I don’t know what that says about me but if my chapters are terrible, you know why. 
> 
> Bre <3

A crashing bang wakes her suddenly from her thrashing nightmare. She rolls over and jumps into a crouching stance with her hands at the ready and her eyes suddenly swirling a golden colour, pale purple mist flowing from her fingers into the air. At that very moment she is ready to defend herself.

A small ‘ouch’ followed by an embarrassed chuckle has her lowering her hands and relaxing her tense muscles.

She spies Henry on the floor by his bed in a tangle of sheets, rubbing his elbow and smiling sheepishly at her.

“Hey uh sorry,” he says.

She blinks and the gold fades from her eyes. “What happened to you?” The brunette shoves her messy bed hair out of her face and crawls closer to her brother who’s still on the floor.

“I fell.”

A sarcastic smile slips to her lips, “Yeah, I kinda got that.”

“You were throwing your arms and stuff around in your sleep. I was coming to help you and I got stuck.”

She nods to herself, moving her gaze from Henry and placing it on an award mounted on the wall over his shoulder. “Nightmares.” 

He finally gets himself untangled from his sheets and crawls closer to her, stopping when her body tenses.

“I get them too,” Henry offers 

_Yeah but ours aren’t the same_ ,  she thinks.  _ Yours aren’t the same every night and they don’t have terrifying images of Regina dying, Emma killing Mr Gold and then erupting into a fiery blaze of well... fire. In your dreams she doesn’t turn on you and rip out your heart telling you that she’s never wanted you and going to be so happy when you’re gone. _

But she doesn’t say any of that. She just nods and mumbles a soft “yeah.”

“Henry” Regina’s ’s voice calls from through the door. “Time to go,”

“Ok Mom. I’ll be down in a minute” He answersright back to her, waiting until he can no longer hear her heels clacking one the floor.

“Can you...?”

Heather smiles softly at his excitement of her magic. “Yeah.” She waves her hand and in a puff of pale purple smoke, his pyjamas are replaced by a casual pair of jeans and a long sleeved red shirt.

“Thanks!” He runs from the room barely looking back.

Heather sighs. She stands from her makeshift bed on her little older brothers floor and conjures up a new set of clothes for herself. It’s nice to be back in the clothes that she knows her mom would not approve of. Whatever, her and her crop top will enjoy themselves.

Throwing her hair up into a high ponytail, she plays with the ringlets at the end of the strands. She forces her hands down and once again curses her Ma for giving her so many nervous habits.

The teen smiles sadly spotting a picture of Henry sandwiched between Regina and Emma. It’s always been one of her favourites, having come home from school everyday to see it sitting on the side table in the foyer. She hasn’t seen it since Emma took all of their family photos down.

The door to Henry’s room swings open with warning and Heather drops the photo in an overwhelming panic.

The momentary flash of disappointment that surges surprises her when she realizes it’s only Henry and not her moms.

“Henry? What was that? Are you ok?” Regina seems to have forgone her earlier argument that yelling across the house is uncalled for.

“Yeah Mom I’m ok! I just bumped into my table.”

He turns back to her. “Sorry I scared you. I just came to bring you some breakfast.” For the first time she notices the bagel with cream cheese that he has on a plate in his hand.

Heather takes it slowly still in a slight daze. 

“Meet me at around 1? That’s when mom has her lunch break and she said I could go to the library.” He sees her confused look and expands. “My punishment remember? I’m not allowed to be by myself so Mom is making me go to her office with her today.”

She nods.

He notices her distraction but keeps it to himself. “Ok well I have to go now. See you later Heather.”

“Bye Henry.”

The brunette stands there waiting until she hears her Mothers car pull out of the driveway and then waits a few more moments just to be safe.

Making her way though the front door and onto the street, she chews on her bagel and makes a game plan.

_ It’s 11 now. I have 3 hours to do some of my own research. It’s probably best to start with the Library and if I really have to, maybe I’ll go see if there’s anything maybe Belle can help me with. _

She makes her way down the same street she’s walked for 16 years. She smiles and nods at Max Rider as he pulls down a poster from a tree on his property and waves politely to Mrs Grenouille who’s sweeping the dust from her front porch.

Heather breaths in deeply. So much is different yet so much is the same. There’s just something about Storybrooke that is enough fantasy to be wonderful but not so much that it is utter nonsense like the Enchanted Forest. Seriously, they spent a year there when she was 8 and it was crazy. It was so incredibly wrong that they immediately moved back no matter how much Grandma complained. Mom and Ma both agreed that it didn’t feel like home and that they didn’t want to raise their children in a castle as royalty.

Her thoughts continue to roll around in her head, flittering and fluttering in and out, through her mind and back out again. She’s so lost in thought that she almost runs into someone at the entrance to the Library, immediately pulling back and apologizing profusely.

“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.” She lifts her head to meet the strangers gaze and in full conscious thought takes an instant step away from him.

“Well you should have been then, shouldn’t youDearie.” The man clicks his cane at her and takes a step foreword when he obviously doesn’t recognize her. She in turn takes another step back.

His leering eyes quickly bring forth flashes of her dream to the forefront of her mind.  


_ Emma’s hand crushing the mans heart with her wide eyed and crazed gaze, flashing then to her hand in her own 12 year old daughters chest, yanking and tugging until the organ is displaced and frantically beating in the blondes hand. _

Before she knows it, the teen has backed herself into the middle of the road, still facing Mr Gold but unhearing towards his protests.

The first words that permeate her thoughts are a loud and unmistakable, “STOP!”

She whips her head around expecting to see maybe a car or bike coming towards her but all she spots is what looks like a man running down the street about to pass her at any moment and a disheveled blonde woman giving chase. Wait. That’s her disheveled blonde mother.

Mr Gold has given up attempting to talk to her and that’s fine since her attention is far from him.

Emma seems to be having troubles catching up to her perp. She’s huffing and puffing with about 10 ft between them. There’s no way she’ll get him if she’s already been running for that long.

Heather stands there in the road debating with herself on whether or not she should help the sheriff.

Shaking her head she moves onto the sidewalk intending to let her mother deal with her problem herself. A twisted part of her mind finds a sick sense of pleasure in Emma’s suffering.  


What the hell happened to them? They used to be so close. Emma was the ‘fun’ mom. She was the one to sneak ice cream and cookies at bedtime and always broke when her puppy dog eyes pleaded for one more story. Now it’s resorted to each of them hurting the other. Heather knows it’s wrong but she can’t help herself when she actively rebels against her mother. Emma drives her crazy.

The man gets closer and is just about to pass her. The brunette starts to walk away but can’t help it when her eyes stray to the blonde. Emma is most definitely having trouble keeping up. Heather knows that her mother is extremely fit for someone who eats way too much junk food so they must have been running for a long time.

The teen rolls her eyes and huffs as she stomps just ahead of the pair. Curse her good heart.

In a practised manoeuvre that Emma taught her when she was 9, Heather positions herself accordingly and when the man is directly parallel to her, she tackles him to the ground.

He struggles and bucks wildly, screaming at her to let him go along with a few choice words that she knows his mother would not approve of. Within a few seconds Emma is beside them and seeing that the leather clad man is expertly handled, she drops her hands to her knees and wheezes out a, “What the hell Hook?!”

Heather startles, only realizing just then that the ‘Handless Wonder’ is the one she’s currently digging her knee into.

He swears violently at the blonde trying in earnest to buck the teen off his back. “He got in the way!”

“Of your fist!?” Emma stretches her arms out in exasperation. “Can you not take a break up like a man?!”

The teen smirks. With that she takes her hand from his upper back and he takes the split second to throw her off of him and take a punch. Heather throws her arms up to protect her face but the blow never comes.

She finally peeks between her fingers to find Emma body checking the man to the ground, holding tight to the lapels of his jacket and slamming him down on the road.

“What the fuck were you thinking?!” The sheriff aggressively rolls him over and tosses the handcuffs to a stunned Heather who swiftly complies and cuffs his hand (and hook) behind his back. Just before Emma hauls him to his feet, the teen takes the opportunity to kick him right between the legs.

“Shithead,” she mutters brushing the dirt off of her clothes.

Her future mother stares at her and for a moment she thinks that she going to tell her off until the words tumble from Emma’s mouth, “I like you.”

A stunned bubble of laughter escapes.

“Come with me, Kid Wonder.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t know if you noticed my lack of creative talent in adding a very small intro to two characters that live on Mifflin but I’m wondering who can figure out which two Enchanted Forest characters I’m referring to. They may be obvious or maybe not. I’m sorry 😂 
> 
> Let me know if you figured it out!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said I’d do it, so I’m doing it.

It’s in silence that the mother and daughter duo haul the pirate into a holding cell to await his punishment. They work in tandem as he attempts to escape and actively block out his pleas, and then his eventual onslaught of verbal abuse that he hurls towards them.

Neither of them share a word until Emma plops down in a seat next to the teen and pats her knees likes she’s gearing up for a long conversation. “So,” she turns her head towards Heather who is suddenly uncharacteristically quiet. “You came to me a couple days ago.”

The brunette shuts her eyes in defeat. Apparently the Emma in this time is more aware than she thought. Apparently she found her out right away, she’d been hoping that because she actually looks socially appropriate this time, that it would be harder for the blonde to recognize the mess she was. 

Right. Time to lie her ass off to get out of this one. A harsh puff of air escapes her lips as a hand comes to shove a strand of chocolate curls behind her ear. “I’m sorry about that.”

The sheriff waits a moment to see if she’s going to elaborate. “That’s it?”

Heather shrugs. “There’s nothing to say.”

“You were crying Kid. And you looked pretty damn scared to me.”

“I don’t know what to tell you. I was upset but I’m fine now.” Her irritation starts to build. 

“Look Kid, I’m the sheriff. It’s my job to help people out and I’m just making sure you’re ok. K? You were obviously scared about something so you can tell me and I can help-“ Suddenly Emma’s words are cut off by a harsh almost scream.

“I said I’m FINE! You don’t know me. You know nothing about me, So don’t act like you do!” Woah, that’s a new feeling. Pure anger like fire rippling though her body only escaping by her words. She stands, ready to storm away and out of the station but Emma is quicker.

She reaches out and grabs Heathers arm before she can get any further than a few feet. 

“Hey Kid, calm down.” 

The teen yanks her arm from the older woman’s grasp but does turn back and sit down again. She refuses to allow her eyes to meet the blondes concerned gaze.

Emma considers this angry child in front of her. For a moment she truly contemplates walking away and letting the girl figure out her feelings on her own but then she remembers herself at the teens age; Alone, scared, unloved. And just like that she can’t do it. She promises to herself to try and be the person for this child that she’d never had.

“Look, you’re right. I don’t know you. I’m not your mom...” she doesn’t notice Heathers flinch. 

After that sentence the teen doesn’t hear anything else that she’s said. She’s right though. She isn’t her mom. Unfortunately, Emma hasn’t been her Mom in 4 years; Any version of her. It’s taken her this long to realize the truth of that statement. Is this why she’s always angry, because Emma stopped caring? Aren’t Mother’s supposed to get worried when their children are out at all hours of the night, drinking and getting high? Aren’t Mothers supposed to consider their daughters feelings and tell her it’s going to be all right when she’s scared? Aren’t Mothers supposed to hold their daughters and cuddle them tight when their Mom dies and their world is ripped apart? Aren’t Mothers supposed to care?

She shakes her head. Her Emma doesn’t care. Why should this one.

“Kid?” 

She blinks and tunes back in to what the other woman is saying. She turns her head and just looks at her. 

Emma sighs when she sees the same expression on the teenagers face that she sees on her own some days. Distrust. Anger. Loneliness. It breaks her heart. She understands that she needs to get real with this kid. 

“You know, When I was a few hours old my parents left me on the side of the road.”

Heather shifts her eyes. Her mother didn’t often talk about her childhood. She pays close attention.

“Or so I thought. I didn’t learn until a couple of years ago what actually happened. But anyway that’s not the point of this story.” She adds on quickly when she sees Heathers hostile look. “I grew up in Foster care. I had some really great parents and I had some really... not great parents. I was a loner, no friends, no real siblings, no real parents. I had no one I could talk to. Not until I met a woman when I was 16.” The blonde pauses and notices that she has the teens attention. Good.

Heather shifts her body slightly towards Emma’s.

“I had just run away from another group home and skipped town. I ended up at a diner in Jersey. Don’t ask how.” She smiles and swears she saw a small quirk of the girls lips in return. “When I tried to buy a cup of coffee the owner started yelling, trying to get me to leave or whatever but the woman stepped in, she beat the man in a verbal smack down and then bought me breakfast, coffee included. I don’t know what it was about her,” she smiles wistfully, reminiscing. “She was...older than me. Designer clothes and expensive perfume. I don’t know why she helped a street rat like me but she did. She invited me back to her booth and we talked. We talked all morning. She told me about her abusive mother and then her abusive marriage. She even told me about the Ex’s daughter that she credited with ruining her life. She didn’t have to but she did. In return, I told her my entire life story. She was the first person in my life that I had ever trusted.”

Just like that Heather’s flames die. 

“What I’m trying to say Kid, is that we all deserve to have someone who will listen to us and talk to us like people. I’d like to be that person for you if you let me.”

Sudden tears well up in her eyes. 

Emma almost convinces herself that she’s hearing things when the girl beside her starts off in a whisper. “My mom died when I was 12.”

The blonde wants to apologize but she knows from experience that it will seem too much like pity and that the girl will hate that. 

“She got sick. And it destroyed my family. My brother couldn’t stand to be around us anymore and 2 weeks later he moved away. All we got were cards for Christmas and birthdays. He never came home. This year was supposed to be his first time coming back since it happened. My other mom... she-“ a tear courses down her cheek. “She hates me.”

At that Emma has to protest. “She doesn’t hate you Kid.”

“She does.” She insists. “She does. I don’t know why though. I don’t know what I did to make her stop loving me. She stopped asking about my day, she stopped joking around with me. She became colder and meaner. She controls every move I make and never wants to be around me. She used to love me.”

Emma awkwardly makes a risky option to put her hand on the teen’s knee. She notices her shoulders tense but she makes no move to pull away. 

“You know, I can’t say exactly how I’d react to losing my wife and my son within a 2 week span but I do know that nothing would change in how much I’d love my kid. My son is 13 and I love him to death. I’d do anything for him. But In all honestly, if I had a another kid and they left the family after my wife died, I would be so terrified of losing my last remaining kid that I might just become paranoid and controlling. I wouldn’t ever want to lose someone else. Especially with a life like I’ve had.” Emma pats the girls leg stiffly. She isn’t very good with emotions. Even her own. “Your mom loves you. She might just suck at showing that.”

“I never thought of that.” Heather whispers. 

Emma shrugs and moves her hand away noticing instantly the lack of warmth on her palm. This kid is too much like her. She hopes her own kids never have to deal with anything like that. 

She sighs, “What’s your name Kid?”

“Dove.”

The name strikes a familiar cord. “You’re Henry’s friend?”

“Yeah. I’m tutoring him.”

“Oh.”

The blonde pats herself on the back for how she handled that. Her mother would certainly have been proud if she were present for that pep talk. She smiles at the thought that Henry might hear of how his mother helped his friend. She hopes that Regina would be proud of her for her feat in the world of parenting. 

Heather considers the Blonde’s words. After everything that’s happened between the two of them, She doesn’t know if she can separate the hurt that her Ma’s caused and find forgiveness. One of the two people in the world that was supposed to love her unconditionally and without any questions asked, left her on her own. Maybe it’s true, maybe she is terrified of losing what’s virtually her last connection to her happy life with her wife and children but that doesn’t mean that she was just allowed to shut herself off emotionally and give up on the kid that still depends on her. Because as much as Heather wants to hate her, she can’t help but want her Mama to hold her. 

They sit in a silence. It’s not necessarily awkward though it’s not quite comfortable either. It’s more like both of them have realized that they found another person that they’re able to talk to. 

Emma sits in a quiet contemplation. Maybe this kid doesn’t trust her yet like she did the woman from so long ago but maybe she can begin to be that person for this girl. Maybe one day, 15 years down the line, Dove will tell a kid of how a lowly small town Sheriff told her a story that made her feel understood. Maybe one day that chain of lonely children telling stories will continue. 

It hurts her heart and has her maternal instincts flaring that this girl could feel so unseen by her own mother. What circumstances would someone have to be in to completely ostracize their child?

“Dove, you know I-“

“I’m sorry. I can’t do this right now.” The teen rushes out her words so quick they come out in a single rapid breath. “Im meeting a friend and I have to go.” And like that, she’s left the station. 

Emma allows herself a moment to wrap her brain around what the hell just happened before she stands and makes way for the station doors as well. 

Somehow this girl just crawled her way into the typically emotionally closed off woman’s heart and she intends to stay there. What is it about this girl that won’t leave her head? She’s familiar. 

She spots her son smiling widely at Dove as she stops beside him. The pair continue walking down the street. The thought pops into Emma’s head of how much Henry has grown up. 

Oh. That’s it. That girl reminds her of Regina. The look of a lonely child that can only be seen in her eyes when she’s feeling vulnerable. It’s one that she notices in the Mayor, mostly when it comes to vying for Henry’s love. Her fiery temper is something else that’s similar between the two along with the silky brunette strands and the exquisite smile. 

Emma shakes her head. Regina doesn’t have any children. The blonde narrows her eyes. 

Or does she?


	18. Chapter 18

“So, what do we know so far?” Henry asks his sister as he leads them down Main Street towards the arcade that Nani Blue and her little sister Lilo recently built for the kids of Storybrooke. 

Heather doesn’t hear a single word of what he says, still in her head from the story Emma told her the day before. Does her mother still love her? Is what Emma said true, is the reason she acts like that because she’s scared? It can’t only be that. It has to be something more. There’s no way that her mother would be downright dictator level of controlling if she were just scared of losing her. But does that mean she’s expected to forgive her Ma? If it is true, there’s nothing saying that anything will change if Heather sits the older blonde down and talks it through. Who’s to say that Emma even wants to talk about it. 4 years is a long time to stew in your feelings and if the conversation hasn’t come up yet...

“Heather?”

That’s not even fair anyway. Why does she have to be the bigger person?

“Heather!”

Emma is the mother, she should be the one initiating a conversation with her kid. Like seriously if there was something going on why didn’t she just talk to her daughter and not go all bat shit insane on her in the first place?

“HEATHER!”

She blinks. “I’m sorry what?”

Henry sighs. She’s been acting very spacey since the day before when she met him outside the sheriff’s station. He assumes it has something to do with Emma considering where she came from when she caught up to him. He really wants to know but he can’t actually bring himself to ask. But... he’s worried for her. 

“I’ve been talking to you for like the last 5 minutes.”

She nods tiredly as her hand comes up to rub her eyes. “I’m sorry Henry, I didn’t really get any sleep last night.”

“Nightmares?” He asks warily

She shrugs her shoulders. “Something like that.”

He’s frustrated that she won’t talk to him but he lets it go. What can he expect, he doesn’t actually know her and she doesn’t know this him. He doesn’t know how he’d act if he found himself in the past where he doesn’t exist after having such a tortured life. She’s not telling him something though. Something that could be important. Whenever he mentions Emma, or the word Saviour or sheriff is said around her she flinches. She doesn’t think he notices but he does. 

“Well I was just asking what we know so far?”

Heather shuffles her feet and kicks at a small stone. “A whole lot of nothing Hen.” She shivers as the wind picks up around them. She pulls the sleeves of her cardigan down over her fingers and wraps it tighter to her body, cursing herself for not getting a jacket. “At this rate, I might be stuck here forever.”

Henry rolls his eyes at her cynicism. Then narrows them when he hears her muffled “maybe it’s for the best,” that she says under her breath.

He stops them there on the sidewalk. “What was that?”

She shrugs noncommittally and tries to side step around him. “Nothing, lets just go.”

“No! I know somethings going on with you. More than just the wanting to get home blues that you’ve got going on. What’s wrong?”

Her irritation shows in the way she tenses her shoulders. “I said nothing Henry.”

He moves to block her way as she tries to get around him. 

“Move.”

“Make me.” He stands his ground knowing that she won’t go around using magic in public like that. It’s too risky. 

“Henry. I swear to God-“ her fists clench by her sides and for a very brief moment the boy thinks she might actually hit him.

But he still stands his ground. “Or what Heather? What are you going to do?”

She steps forward, her green eyes suddenly shining a bright gold. Henry instinctively takes a step back. 

“Or else I’m-“

“Hey Henry is everything all right here?”

Henry wholeheartedly thanks his Grandfather in his mind for having great timing because he doesn’t actually know what she was about to do to him. He imagines he’s going to have that feeling a lot growing up considering he’ll be the only one in the house without magic and he doesn’t know if he really wants to see what a little kid who’s mad at her big brother can do.

Heather’s eyes reverse back to their shining green as the tension in her shoulders drops, her posture relaxing. 

The brunette boy shifts his gaze from his sister towards his grandfather who is standing in his full regal glory, his own posture large in his show of dominance. 

“It’s all good Grandpa. Dove and I were just arguing about who’s the better Baseball team. I say the Red Sox all the way but she prefers the Toronto Blue Jays for some insane reason.”

Heather shuffles her feet back as Henry talks, her eyes never leaving the shoes on her Grandfathers feet. He still wears the same pair of casual boots in her time as he does now. 

David doesn’t look at all convinced so she tries to add something to make it seem more likely.

“Yeah well the Sox didn’t have a World Series win for 86 years. Curse of the Bambino is right.”

Henry smiles at her widely, not realizing that she’s actually a baseball fan like he is. 

He banters back with her playfully. “Yeah well the Jays only have 2 WS wins compared to the Sox’s 9.”

“The Jays were only founded in ‘77 and the Sox was in 1901. In theory, they should have more wins under their belt if they’ve been around for more than 115 years.” She throws back. This time for real and she’s actually having a bit of fun arguing with him.

Henry looks to David for help. He’s just standing their between the pair and watching the nattering in amusement. When he sees Henry’s look for help he raises his hands in surrender. “Hey don’t look at me. Though the Sox are definitely better.” He adds after a moment 

Heather rolls her eyes playfully at them when Henry sticks his tongue out at her. 

“Good afternoon your Majesty.” Mr Tillman announces as he passes the trio on the sidewalk. The man carries a ladder with him under his one arm and a large sign under he other as he stops at the shop right in front of them and sets it up. 

“Afternoon Michael.” David nods 

The trio move slightly out of way as the man climbs the ladder with a drill and a small container of screws. 

“Mr Tillman, I thought you were a mechanic?” Henry questions the man as he begins to unscrew the sign on the flower shop above them. 

“That’s right Henry but since there’s no one else, I also take on the job of carpenter every now and again.”

David moves over to help hold the mans ladder steady as the wind continues to pick up. The trees rustle around them, and Heathers hair blows all around her face.

She leans over to her brother. “By the way,” she starts with a soft smile. “I’m actually more of a Yankees fan.”

Henry gasps in mock outrage. “How could you.” 

The pair laugh and Henry is grateful to see a real smile light up her face. 

Thunder rolls in the distance as the sky darkens around them. 

“I think a storm is’a brewing kids,” Charming jokes with them. 

He’s not wrong either. Dr Hopper walks along down the street and his papers are blown out of his hands by wild gusts of wind, the stack travelling down the road with the out of control current. 

“Maybe we should get back home?” Henry suggests.

Heather nods in agreement. 

Then without warning a flash of lighting strikes the tree right next to the 4 on the sidewalk. The following events happen at a breakneck speed. Mr Tillman gets thrown from the top of his ladder landing heavily on the sidewalk though fairly unhurt and before anyone can react, the sign that he was working to get down starts rapidly crashing down to the ground. It’s aiming right for Henry.

An all consuming flash of fear overtakes Heathers senses and all she can think about is protecting her brother. Maybe if she were thinking more clearly she could have shoved Henry out of the way and saved herself some of the explanation and distrust about to come her way but she doesn’t and she didn’t. 

“Henry!” With a rapid wave of her hand, she conjures the sign away and it disappears with a pop surrounded by pale purple smoke. 

Henry whips around in shock. “You saved-“

Before he can get the rest of his sentence out, David grabs him by the shoulder and shoves him behind his back, standing protectively in front of him. 

“What- Grandpa...”

Charming ignores him staring directly into her eyes and harshly demands answers. “Who are you?!”

Heather takes a step forwards but stops and throws her hands up when it only serves to anger the King and have him draw his sword. 

“No! Grandpa stop! She-“

“Henry stay behind me!” He never takes his eyes off her. In the corner of her own eye she sees Mr Tillman pull himself from the ground cradling his arm as he backs away from her too.

Tears spring to her eyes when she sees the blatant distrust in her Grandfather’s eyes. He’s holding a damn sword out at her. 

“Well?!” He demands loudly 

“I-“

“Answer me!”

“She’s my sister!” Henry all but screams 

David’s entire disposition changes as he drops his sword to his side and whips around to face his grandson. 

“What?”

Henry runs over go stand beside her. “She’s my sister Grandpa. She’s from the future.”

“Henry that’s ridiculous. It-“

“No!” He cuts him off. “It’s not ridiculous. Heather is from the future. She proved it to me.”

There’s a moment of silence between them before Charming sheaths his sword and drops his shoulders. “Ok.”

“Ok?” Henry questions dubiously.

“Ok. If you trust her then I do too.”

The boy nods in confusion. “Well, ok then.”

David glances around quickly before turning towards Michael who’s still standing next to him. “Please don’t tell anyone about this Michael.”

The mechanic nods quickly before walking away.

He turns back to the pair. “Let’s head over to the station. I think we need to have a chat.”

-

After explaining her story to David, minus the stuff about Regina, the trio sit in a contemplative silence. 

“That’s... wow.” The co-sheriff expresses 

“Yeah.” She sighs. 

“So... you’re my Granddaughter?” He questions her 

She nods. 

He smiles widely, an exact match to his grandson. 

Heather smiles in return. She’s glad that he’s happy. She can’t ignore the fact that she feels relieved and comforted that an adult now knows her predicament.

“So Emma has another kid?” He asks happily

The kids freeze, sharing a look. They forgot to mention Heathers other parent.

“Well who’s you’re father? It’s not Neal of course.” He pauses. “Please don’t tell me it’s Hook.”

Heather laughs nervously. “No it’s not Hook.”

“Oh good,” the man exhales. “Well who is it?”

“It’s uh,” Henry begins looking to her for guidance.

“Well technically, Emma is my father.”

Charmings face is blank. “What?”

“Um Emma didn’t birth me so therefore she is my father not my mother. Though she is my mother cause of course she is, that makes no sense that she wouldn’t be. But in a technical sense that makes her my father even though she’s a woman and is therefore my mother-“

“Heather.” Henry nudges her. 

She looks up to find that Charming is even more confused. 

“Right. Uh Regina...is my mom. Emma is my Mom too.” She adds on quickly at the end. “You know- if you... didn’t catch that.”

“Regina is your mom.” He says 

“Mhmm.”

“Regina is the mother to my granddaughter.”

“Biological mother, yeah.”

A sudden smile grows on his face until it’s so large the kids swear his face is going to split

“Yes!” He fist pumps the air

“Wait what?” Henry asks loudly

David jumps up and laughs, clapping his hands. “Snow and Red owe me 50$!”

“Huh?”

“You’re not mad?” Brother and sister question   
at the same time.

“Mad? I was right! For you to be here means that Emma and Regina share true love! I knew it.”

“You knew?” Henry questions still in utter bewilderment 

The older man nods still grinning from ear to ear. “Of course. Am I the only who did? Does no one else notice the eye-“ he pauses as if realizing the company he’s in. “Never mind. Anyway,” his smile softens as he looks at Heather. “I’m glad I’ve got another grandkid to spoil.”

She smiles back.

He glances down at his watch realizing how late is is. 

“Well it’s 5:30 and if I don’t have Henry back home before 6, your mother is going to have a conniption. Let’s go you two.” The trio grab their things and head out to David’s car.

“Where are you staying Heather?”

“Um I spend the night on Henry’s floor but Mom and Ma still don’t know about me and I don’t intend to tell them.”

He nods deep in thought. “Well I’ll take you back to the loft with me and you can stay there until this is all sorted out. Can’t have my future granddaughter without a home right now can we?” He smiles at her and she smiles back another rapid wave of relief flooding through her.

They pull up to the mayoral mansion in David’s pick up and Henry jumps out, waving to the pair. 

David turns to her the brunette. “Come on Kid. I won’t tell Snow yet if you don’t.”

—

Henry shuts the white door behind him and kicks off his shoes. “Moms I’m home!”

“Hey kid!” Emma calls from the kitchen.

Regina greets him from the kitchen doorway. “Hi sweetheart. Dinner is almost ready why don’t you go wash up?”

He nods and runs up the stairs. A second later her runs back down remembering that he put his notebook in his jacket pocket. He quickly grabs it and turns to head back up the stairs but stops when he hears his moms talking in the kitchen.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed but there is strong magic in Storybrooke.” Regina says 

“No I have. But I didn’t realize that it was new?”

”It’s definitely new.” She sounds worried. “I don’t know who it is. That concerns me.”

“Well maybe we should talk to Gold. We need to find this person.”

“I agree.”

Uh oh.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m here!

3 days ago Charming brought Heather to the loft to stay with him and Mary Margaret. Thankfully, Emma recently found an apartment for herself so that was one less person she had to deal with; but being brought to your Grandparents house and officially introduced to your grandmother who doesn’t know you... that was awkward. Even worse, it didn’t help that the pair had already met, that hadn’t worked out very well on her part. 

So yeah, 3 days ago, David had brought her home without telling his wife by the way and of course Snow White was incredibly accommodating but then came the “I remember you”s and “I hope you know you can talk to me”s. Although it’s not as if Heather was completely new to the idea of a meddling Snow White because really? Her mom died and it was like instantly, Snow was right there always in their space. There’s a reason that in her time, Emma doesn’t hang around with her mother much. 

A soft knock comes from the door to her borrowed room. Heather clenches her entire body to the point where she actually fears it might lock up. Speak of the devil.

Not today. She shuts her eyes so tight that she sees stars and the tears in her eyes are forced out. Her nails dig into her palms leaving bloody crescents in the soft flesh. Any day but today. Not today.

The door the room creaks open and with that Heather wants to scream. She wants to scream and cry at the top of her lungs. She wants to break a lot of shit and just lay there in hopes of dying herself. 

Snows head peeks in but the teen just buries herself deeper in the pile of blankets and sheets because despite the strange heat in the loft, she is always cold. Fits with her mood right now, she feels like a corpse why not actually seem like one. Under the blankets, she lazily shoves the family photo under the pillow as she feels her grandmother draw nearer.

Both herself and Charming agreed it was best not to tell Snow her little secret just yet because as much as they both love the woman, they can both agree that she is not a very good secret keeper. 

The bed dips down low on the right side and both of the women just sit there in silence waiting for the other to make the first move.

Obviously it’s going to be the princess. Queen. Heather shakes her head. It’s still weird to think of her as anything other than her Grandma. 

“Good morning Dove.” 

She bets Snows confused by her behaviour. She’s confused. This is not normally how this day goes. Usually Emma’s the one who lies in bed all day with Snow huddled up outside her bedroom door waiting on her to come out so she can ‘talk out her feelings’ while Heather herself is out doing God knows what probably still trying to get a reaction from her mother. Heather doesn’t sulk. Maybe it’s being back here and actually seeing her mom again and having an Emma that actually seems to care about her kids. Well...kid.

A fresh round of tears fill her eyes but she forces them back. She’s not going to let them fall. She isn’t! She clenches her body tighter, her muscles screaming in protest as her toes and ankles already start to spasm and lock. She can’t do this with her right now. She really can’t. Not today.

She can practically hear Mary Margaret’s frown etch into her face. 

“Dove? Are you alright love?”

A squeak escapes her lips. She shuts her eyes, her hand unconsciously reaching out for the photo frame she just shoved under the pillow. No, no one isallowed to call her love. No one except mom. Snow knows that Dammit!

Mary Margaret shifts hearing the noise. “Dove?”

Heather can’t force her voice to rise above a whisper. “Snow. Please, please, I need to be alone right now.”

“I but... Love are you ok?”

A low moan escapes her throat. She’s trying desperately to hold onto the sob rising in her throat. She swears at any moment it’s going to rip out of her; straight from her heart and she can’t have Snow ‘pep talk’ White there even if she is her Grandma. She doesn’t want to be strong today. Not today. Not with this.

The older woman sits on the edge of the bed distraught and unsure of what to do. She doesn’t feel that she can just leave an upset child like this.

“I uh-“

“Please.”

She hesitates, really fighting against her instinct to stay, but eventually agrees and moves quickly to the door, shutting it behind her. She should go get her husband.For some reason, this girl is much more attached to David. It’s almost as thought she’s forcing herself not to get close to Snow and that hurts her.

Heather takes the opportunity to yank back the covers and open the window in the room. She can’t stay here. She barely checks to see if anyone is around to see before she conjures a ladder and leaves thought the open exit. 

She lands on the street with a hard thump and takes off down the road at the highest speed she can run. 

Rage and sadness fight for dominance inside her body. She shouldn’t be feeling like this. Not after 5 years. But she just can’t get the image of Regina’s eyes shutting for the last time and the sound of Emma’s screaming out of her head. It’s as though someone is purposely trying to torture her.

She just runs. She runs and runs as fast as she can, trying to go where; even she has no idea. In her frazzled state of mind the only thought running rampant is to get as far away from those memories as possible but no matter what she does or where she goes, it’s always there in the back of her mind. For God sakes, her mother created this town. The whole thing is a flashing obnoxious reminder that Regina is here and this is her place! Like someone up there is trying to torture her with the notion that her mother is right here and fucking alive but she can’t hug her or talk to her because she doesn’t know her or give a single damn about her. To Regina, she’s just her sons tutor. Shit!

When her legs are just about to buckle from exhaustion and her chest rises and falls as fast as her heart beats, she finally stops. She only vaguely takes in her surroundings as she drops heavily onto a bench. The tears she refuses to allow stream, quickly pool in her eyes blurring her vision. What she can make out is the water all around her. The pier. She hadn’t meant to go here but it’s fitting. This was always her mother’s favourite place to sit and think when she wanted to be alone. 

She closes her eyes hoping to fight off the killer headache developing near her temples but the darkness of her eyelids only allow the memories to rapid fire through her mind. 

_ “Mommy! Mommy!” A 4 year old Heather runs hurriedly into her parents bedroom, the hard slaps of her feet muffled by the soft carpet in the upstairs hallway. In her little hands she carries a small fish bowl. _

_ “Mommy!” She practically screams, tears streaming down her face; hot and hurried. _

_ Regina steps out of her bathroom, a tissue still scrunched in her fist. _

_ “Heather?” She rushes over to her daughter who’s standing in the middle of her room just crying. _

_ “Mommy, Freddy isn’t moving anymore!” The little girl points to the goldfish laying belly up in his colourful fish tank. _

_ Regina sighs. “Oh Love. I’m so sorry.” She gently takes the bowl from the girls hands and sets it on her vanity table. She then sweeps her daughter into her arms and rests her on her hip. Heather buries her face in her mother’s soft hair and sobs. _

_ Regina’s heart breaks at her daughters tears. Her beloved goldfish had been won for her by Emma at the annual fall fair Storybrooke puts on. The girl had been so excited when her Ma proudly presented her with the bright orange fish after knocking down all 10 milk jugs with a baseball. A week after the fish found itself a permanent home with the Swan Mills family, Heather had accidentally turned his bright orange scales, lime green. That’s when the family figured out that she had magic. With that, Freddy from them on was a green gold fish. _

_ Regina rocks her little girl soothingly, whispering soft nothings into her ear. _

_ “Mommy, Henry said Freddy died.” _

_ Regina rolls her eyes at the lack of tact in her son. He definitely gets that trait from his other mother. She’ll be having words with him. _

_ “Yes Love. He did die.” She pets her hair. “Do you understand what that means?” _

_ The little girl shakes her head. _

_ Regina sighs and sits them both down on the edge of the bed making sure to keep a hold of the girl still. Not like she’d be going anywhere anyway. _

_ “Love, when someone dies, they leave us.” _

_ “Leave?” _

_ She nods, gently brushing Heathers soft chocolate curls from her face. “They go someplace else. The part of them that we love; their laugh, their happiness, the things they say, they all go to that other place. And they leave behind their body because where they go now, they don’t need it anymore.” _

_ “Like Grandpa Henry and Grandma Cora?” _

_ “Yes Love. Both of them went someplace else too. And when they both got there, they got to see each other again. Freddy is with them now.” _

_ “Oh.” _

_ The mother and daughter sit together still clinging to each other. Heather looks up with her big bright green eyes and sniffles. Her eyes glance down to her mother’s clasped hand and pulls the tissue. _

_ “‘Mommy, nose.” _

_ Regina gasps, reaching up and finding a hot stream of blood cascading from her nose. _

_ Just as she’s positioning the tissue, her wife comes in the room.  
_

_ “Hi babydoll,” she says sadly. “Henry told me what happened to Freddy. I’m sorry Kiddo.” _

_ She notices her wife’s predicament and sweeps their little girl into her arms and kisses her all over her face until she hears her sweet laugh. _

_ “Freddy died Mama.” _

_ Emma nods and turns her sad eyes over to her wife who’s still fighting a losing battle with her nose bleed. _

_ “I know baby.” _

_ Heather nods her head seriously for a moment until she comes out with a question that leaves both of her mothers upset and saddened. “Mommy? Are you gonna die?” _

_It hurts them most because they know its going to happen, then question is, when?_

Heather blinks and the moment disappears back into whichever part of her hellish mind likes to torture her with stray memories of her life.

She doesn’t bother looking around when she conjures the photo frame that she’d been looking at earlier. The smiling faces of Regina, Emma, Henry and a 7 year old her look back.

“That’s where you got your name huh?” The rumbling of her grandfathers voice behind her startles her so bad she almost drops the frame to the ground.

She furrows her brows when his words finally make their way into her head. 

“What?”

He comes around beside her and takes a seat on the bench, “Your magic. It’s a pale purple. Heather.”

“Oh,” She nods softly. “Yeah. When I was 8, we were learning the meaning of names in school and the homework was to find out the meaning of our own. Mom and Ma told me that I’m the product of their true love and that me and my magic are the perfect combination of theirs, so they needed a name that fit. What better than the actual colour.” She shrugs in a obviously failing pretenceof nonchalance. 

The tears sting her eyes and this time she doesn’t want to hold them back. She turns to her grandfather and lets them go.

“Mom died today. 5 years ago.”

David’s face drops. When Snow had told him that Heather was acting strange he hadn’t thought it was anything more than her ‘missing home blues’ as Henry puts it. 

“She died and there was nothing anyone could do to save her.”

He doesn’t know what to say so he stays silent and lets her talk. 

She turns back to the staring out at the coastline. “This was her spot. I suppose is, right now.” She laughs mirthlessly and the sound sends chills down his spine. His poor granddaughter. Are they going to remember her like this? When she’s born are they going to have to live with the fact that they know that she’s going to be miserable and live a broken life?

“I miss her Grandpa.” He vaguely notices that this is the first time she’s called him that, “I miss her so much. She’s the only one who understood me.”

God what she wouldn’t do for another hug from her mother. Or her grandpa. Sometimes, when she finally gets to see him, all she’ll do is spend her entire time with her Grandfather just wrapped in his strong embrace. He just holds her and makes her feel safe and loved. He knows she needs it; Emma hasn’t touched her since Regina died.

He pipes up trying to help. “Well you still have Emma right?”

Another dangerous chuckle escapes her lips.  “Emma,” she scoffs lightly. “Emma gave up on me a long time ago.”

He sits in a broken hearted contemplation before whispering hesitantly. “What about Snow and I?”

She nods absentmindedly. “You guys are still around. As much as Emma let’s you anyway.”

This time a real smile tilts her lips up. “Snow comes around anyway though. Sometimes, she’ll sneak in the window just to get in the house and she’ll stay and hang out with me playing board games or sit outside Emma’s bedroom door. She waits there, waits for the day that Ma opens her door and lets her hug her again.”

He’ll deny it until his dying day but tears fill up his own eyes. His poor baby girl. His poor baby girl’s baby girl. How could this happen? How could they let it get to this point?

As if reading Heather’s mind, her takes the moment to reach out and pull the teen into his strong arms. It’s an awkward angle but neither of them care. The moment he finally hugs her, she’s sobbing into his embrace, her cries fully shaking his body along with hers.

“I’m here for you now little girl. So is Snow. She’s here too, now and then.”

She nods though her body still shakes.

“They named me Dove.” She whispers. For a moment he nods along assuming that she’s just thinking out loud.

“After her. They named me Dove.”

His breath hitches when he understands her words.

“Yeah?” A small cry leaves him.

“Regina wanted it.”

A wide watery grin almost splits his face in two. Regina chose to name her daughter after her Mortal enemy. This means that one day, Snow and Regina are going to be close enough that his wife will mean something big to the mayor. Snow’s going to be ecstatic. 

—

Just a smallmile away, a swirling puff of cerulean blue smoke appears.

The cloud disperses quickly leaving behind a tall figure in the forest where only weeks earlier another visitor appeared.

The figure smirks dangerously, an impish grin lighting up their face into an almost manic expression.

One step, two steps and the form limps away; a gold and wood cane assisting every movement


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I don’t actually know how many people are still following because I know I’m terrible at updating on a regular basis. I have to wait for inspiration to strike and there are days when it does not want to come. Like at all. 
> 
> I hope you guys are still sticking with me because slowly but surely this story is coming to an end and all will be revealed soon.
> 
> Thanks. Bre <3

“There’s nothing here,” she mumbles angrily under her breath while slamming the cover of a huge leather bound book shut. As always, the library sits quiet and untouched, the volume of the book deafening in the space.

The brother sister duo had been at it for hours; scouring dozens of texts in the depths of the library for any possible answers on Heathers predicament. Henry fears that it might be time to tell someone about it whether that be Regina, the Blue fairy or Rumplestiltskin. So far, Heather is still 100% against the idea.

“Maybe it’s time to-“ he’s cut it almost instantly

“What Henry?! What more is there to do? There’s nothing!” The last sentence of her rant she breaks off into a hurried, frustration laced whisper cautiously aware of Belle’s possible proximity.

Henry stands there for a moment allowing himself to process her words and emotion. “Well I don’t know. We’ve looked through all of the books here that have even the slightest mention of magic and we’ve found nothing! We need magic books and the only ones in town are with Mom and Mr Gold!” The boy hisses his piece, hunches his shoulder and stomps away; presumably to find the quiet librarian and ask her opinion.

Heather drops heavily back into the chair she’d been perched upon previously. Yelling at Henry and fighting with him is not going to do her any good. Maybe he’s right? What is the time that she can reveal herself? What are the “life endangering circumstances” her parents told her are the only time she’s allowed to tell anyone who she is? Is the possibility of being forever stuck in the past an instance where this rule applies? Thank a lot Mom and Ma. Never told her how to get herself out of this one.

Does that mean she’ll never see Grandpa and Grandma again? What about Henry? God, Nix is going to flip out! Ruby and Dorothy’s daughter, Phoenix has been her best friend since birth. The two girls are inseparable. Who’s going to be there to help Nix dye her hair blue or rant about stupid boys to? Even as much as her mind fights her on it, Heathers heart wants to see her Ma again too. Is that all not going to happen now?

Her heart drops into her stomach, a overwhelming sense of dread seeping into her veins like ice water. You know she’d never really understood the saying of your ‘blood running cold’ with fear until she’d had her first panic attack when she was 13. Now it’s a familiar feeling. She drops her head to rest on the table in front of her as her breathing picks up and her chest tightens. There’s a staggeringfeeling of fear that settles in her body. It’s as though there is someone sitting on her chest making it impossible for her to inhale a decent sized breath. This gives way to more fear and the cycle just continues. Her head feels dizzy as spots dance in front of her eyes. The only thing she can do in this moment is focus on the techniques Archie had told her about and ride it through to the end.

In a practiced move, the teen clutches at her necklace and focuses on grounding herself. She’s here. There isn’t anything she can do about that. She gasps for breath but tries to allow her thoughts to consume her.

4 things she can feel. She reaches around her blindly; one hand still clutched to her necklace. Book. Table. Chair. Sweater.

3 things she can hear. It’s so hard to concentrate on listening when all she can focus on is her fear. She listens hard. Her breathing. Henry talking softly to Belle in the distance. Someone turning the pages of a book a few aisles down.

Her breathing slows ever so slightly. The dots in her eyes clear up but her heart is still pounding away.

2 things she can smell. Library. She smells the library. Old books, a sort of musty smell. And her perfume. Regina’s perfume; she’d taken it from her parents room after her mom died. She always wears it.

1 thing she can taste. Fear.

Gradually, her heart stops pounding, her chest loosens and her head stops spinning. The familiar ache in her heart that happens after one of her attacks, settles in for a stay.

What the hell happened? She hasn’t had an attack in almost 2 years. She curses herself for allowing the weakness through.

Her hand is still clutched desperately to the pendant around her neck. She shuts her eyes tight.

Why? Why did Mom have to die? WHY?! God she wishes desperately that something would appear and give her the answer. 

It’s a familiar question that she’s asked time and time again and there has never been an answer. Until now.

Without any warning a cascade of dark purple smoke billows around her, the cloud whipping her hair into her face and stinging her eyes. What the hell is happening? Her magic isn’t dark purple it’s light? The only person with that colour magic is... Regina.

When the cloud finally starts to disperse, Heather smells the familiar scent of apple pie that always seemed to linger in her mother’s magic. Why would Regina be sending her something? She doesn’t even know her?

Her attention is drawn to the table in front of her. Where the large leather bound book she’d been reading earlier once was, now in its place is a pristine looking scroll that’s fairly small in size yet bares the title ‘Contract’ in blood red letters. Quickly peering around the room to make sure she’s alone, Heather extends a shaky hand and cautiously lifts it from the table. Contract?

She swiftly unrolls the parchment to reveal perfectly written scripture. It continues to unravel until it’s just under 3 feet long. Her eyes are drawn to the bottom of the script where they widen almost comically when she finds her mothers perfect cursive denoting her signature.

She lifts her eyes to the top of the contract and reads each and every word carefully. Two particular passages standout to her.

_ The aforementioned Evil Queen; Regina Mills, Mayor of Storybrooke, acknowledges the work of this legal document that requires the signee to ingest the aforementioned ‘Potion’ that will indeed prove lethal. _

_ In doing so, the Drafter is bound to honour the contract and allow no harm to come to the child of the Queen by their hand.  _

HOLY SHIT! Regina was poisoned. She agreed to ingest this ‘potion’ that killed her to save her child. Obviously whoever this ‘drafter’ is was threatening Henry and the only way to stop that from happening was to have Regina agree to give up her life for his.

She scans the document desperately for any mention of who this person who kills her mom is. There’s something in legalese about ‘curse’ and ‘unbreakable’ about how the effects leading up to death will be particularly gruesome which Heather can 100% attest to. Then she come upon a passage in the fine print.

_By signing, the signee acknowledges that they will be unable to mention this contract in any form whilst they are living._

So Emma didn’t know? No one ever knew that Regina gave up her life for Henry? Did Henry find out is that why he left? There are so many questions swirling in her head that she doesn’t even hear her brother approach.

“What’s that?”

His sudden appearance frightens her and she jumps.

“Shit!” She swears her hand leaping to her chest in hopes of calming her racing heart.

“Sorry.” He shrugs but smiles nevertheless. He comes around to her side and plops down in the seat next to her.

“Hen. I found something.”

His head snaps up from the book her just opened, his attention immediately on her.

“What? What did you find?”

She passes him the contract and allows him to read it quickly.

“What does this mean?” He asks after a moment.

“Mom died to save you.”

“What?”

She points out the two passages. “This one says that she agrees to take the potion that will kill her and the this one says by doing so, the person who wrote the contract will do no harm to her child.”

“How do you know it’s me?!” He asks defensively. “You’re her kid too.”

“Well I mean I suppose it could be me but look at the date at the bottom.” She drags her finger down to the date beside Regina’s signature. “I wasn’t even born yet”

“Heather?” Henry’s face has gone pale, drained of all colour until he looks like he’s going to be sick. 

“What?” She asks alarmed.

“That’s tomorrow.”

Her eyes widen and she shakes her head. “It can’t be. She didn’t die until I was 12 that’s 14 years from now!”

“Well that’s what it says!”

“Henry we have to stop this! I can’t let her die again.” Her eyes meet his desperately.

He nods with bravery he doesn’t feel. His little sister is asking something big of him and like hell is he going to let her down.

“Ok. We’re going to stop this.”

Her shoulders slump over the table. “How are we supposed to find out who wrote this? There’s no name.”

His nods deep in thought. “Wait.”

“What?”

“It’s a contract right?”

“Yeah so?”

“Who’s the only one in this town that writes contracts?”

“Mr Gold.” Her eyes narrow in contemplation.

“What is it?”

“Oh um... You remember when I told you that Emma burned down the library when Regina died?”

He nods. “She uh- she also killed Mr Gold.”

He’s shocked. “What?!”

She nods gravely. “Yeah. She went out looking for him and it got physical right away. Then he gave her a book or something that she read through. I don’t know how it happened but Snow called me and next thing I know, the library is up in flames and Gold’s dead.”

“Holy Crap.” His fists clench and his face tightens. “So it was Gold.” He spits angrily. “Gold killed Mom and Emma figured it out and killed him.”

“Maybe.”

“Well we should go confront him.”

“What the hell are you talking about? He’s the Dark One. He could obliterate us.”

Henry rolls his eyes. “All we’re going to do is ask him if he wrote contract and if it turns out he did... does, you know what I mean, we’ll go to Mom about it.”

He sees her conflicted look. “Fine we’ll go to Grandpa about it.”

“No it’s not that.” She shakes her head. “How do we know that he won’t lie to us?

Henry smirks. “I know just the thing.”

-

The door to Mr Gold’s shop chimes as the bell hits against the open door.

The brother sister duo walk in, one of them more confident in the plan than the other.

Heather gazes around with bright eyes. She’s never been here before. In her time the place was gutted and turned into a small bowling alley. There was no point keeping it when Mr Gold was gone.

She smiles in wonder at the delicate glass unicorn mobile that hands from a stand on the desk. She gently taps it and watches as it spins.

“I would ask you not to touch that Dearie.”

She startles from his sudden appearance behind the counter.

“Henry.” He nods. Then he turns his sights on her. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”

She nods in return. He raises a brow. “Well. What is your name?”

She eyes him suspiciously. “Dove.”

“Ah ah ah. That is incorrect.” He rolls his ‘R’s’ and smirks. His hand resting firmly on the gold and black cane in his hand. 

“Is everyone in this town a human lie detector?” She mutters towards Henry who shrugs.

Henry decides to get straight to the point. “Is this yours?” He thrusts the contract into the mans face them slaps it down on the glass counter. Apparently he’s very angry. 

The imp of a man glowers slightly but looks down nevertheless.

“No.” 

Henry reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small vial. He takes a pinch of the pale blue dust and blows it into the mans face. 

“That’s truth dust. I got it from Mom’s vault. You can’t lie to us. Now listen to me again. Did you write this contract?”

Gold coughs and hisses at the boy. “No. I did not write it.” 

Heather drops her head in defeat. “Do you know who did?”

He eyes her once more. Her skin crawls as he slowly limps closer to her.

“No but I might be able to figure it out.”

“But?”

“All magic comes with a price dearie.”

“What do you want?” Henry asks desperately.

“I want to know her name.” He says it staring right at her.

“That’s it?” She asks dubiously.

“That’s it.”

The teen hesitates for a moment. “Heather.”

A delighted almost manic grin grows on his face as he steps back behind the counter. He quickly skims through the document.

“Well you better hurry then. It doesn’t look like our Queen has much time.” The way he says it creeps them both out.

As they turn to leave he calls out again. “It’s unfortunate really.”

“What is?”

“That our dear Queen is going to die so soon. She is a worthy adversary.”

“Right.” Henry scoffs

“Too bad that when she dies, I will once again be the most powerful being in all the realms.”

“Is that all you care about?!” Heather hisses harshly

Gold smiles eerily. “Power is all that matters. And with no direct competition, I can do anything”

The kids storm out of the shop.

In the back room, Belle who had just walked in allows a tear to slide down her cheek. She sighs, grabs a bag and starts to pack her things.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright lovely peoples! This story will soon be coming to a close with only a few more chapters coming up. 
> 
> I hope you all realize how much your comments and kudos mean to me. This is my first OUAT story and I’ve loved writing it so much and figuring it out with you guys. 
> 
> Let’s keep it going!
> 
> Bre <3

Gold grins happily to himself as he works. He’s very satisfied with how all of this is turning out now. Soon Regina will be gone, there will be no competition left for him as well as he’ll finally have revenge on the Queen for locking away his true love in an asylum for 28 years. Two birds, one stone. It’s really very unfortunate that her punishment won’t be quite as painful as he hoped but... eh it’s still coming for her.

He smirks, fingering the contract that the two kids had brought in for him to examine. Idiots all of them. He flips the page to the back and waves his hand over the parchment. In a swirl of dark blue magic, faded words appear in the bottom left hand corner.

_ Property of Rumplestiltskin; the Dark One. _

It is his page, he can say that much but he did not write this contract. At least not yet he assumes.

He cannot wait to tell Belle all about his plans for the future with her. With Regina gone, he’s sure the town will beg him to become mayor and then he will once and for all truly be the most powerful in all the realms. Too bad his dear little student won’t be around for him to rub it in her face. Well, that’s the consequences of messing with powerful magic Dear Queen. 

Do those kids really and truly think that he’s going to find the person responsible? Don’t they realize that with Regina out of the way, he’s unstoppable? Henry and his dumb little truth dust, as if that would work. He’s the almighty Dark One! He knows every known loophole to magic possible. Just because he didn’t write the contract doesn’t mean he won’t. Stupid children don’t realize that he’s the only one capable of making the parchment that will magically bind a person’s soul when they sign it. 

He shuts the book he’d been studying, an extra little skip in his step now that he knows that soon Regina will be out of their lives forever.

The man makes his way down main street towards the library with every intention of picking up his love and bringing her out for a celebratory dinner. All he sees is wonder around him for the first time in years since Bae passed. The sun is shining down on him and the cool breeze alleviates the humidity that lingers in the air. 

He makes his way into the library, a happy little smile on his face.

“Belle?” He calls for her knowing that she’s usually working hard somewhere around the area. 

His cane beats out a rhythmic tap as he limps across the floor gazing around and past each bookshelf.

“Belle my dear?”

He hears no response. Hmm. That’s strange. He can almost always find her there working away until he drags her to eat or sleep. Perhaps she went home early? Though it would be rather odd for her to not lock up if she were leaving.

He transports himself to his home in a puff is smoke appearing in the centre of their bedroom together. He gazes around at the unusually empty space. The tables are almost always covered in piles of books, anything that his dear could ever want he’d conjure for her. Now it’s completely tidy.

A unsettled feeling builds in his blackened heart. He’s sure that she just cleaned and that he’ll find her in the living room curled up in her favourite chair with a new novel. 

He makes his way down the creaky steps towards the kitchen when he stops. Sitting on the table of the main entry way is a note. The unsettled feeling in his chest explodes into heart racing anxiety. He reaches for the note and almost falls at the words his eyes find.

He skims over her perfect cursive. A few key points sticking out to him.

_ I’m sorry Rumple. _

_ I can’t do this anymore. _

_ You love magic more than you love me.  _

_ I understand but it does not lessen the pain. _

_ I’m leaving.  _

The last two words resonate deeply inside of him to the point where he feels his heart literally crack. 

No. No no no. This cannot be happening.

The disbelief in his body is instantly consumed by the dark magic inside him turning the sadness into explosive rage. His eyes fade to a pure black. A black so deep that the evil practically seeps from his pores.

This is Regina’s doing.

He’s going to kill her.

—

Heather watches as her entire family walks happily together into Granny’s. Emma ruffles Henry’s hair when she sees him, Regina and Snow share a tentative nod that’s void of hatred and David looks on in pure bliss.

Her heart cracks. What can she expect though. They aren’t her family yet. They don’t know her. She understands but It doesn’t make the pain lessen.

She stands outside the diner watching as the happy family slip into a booth by the front window as if they’re parading their happiness in front of her face. As if they’re saying: haha look what we have, you don’t get it. 

She fingers the money in the pocket of her brown leather jacket. Yes, she got her affinity for leather jackets from her Ma. When she was younger, the pair used to buy matching jackets and wear them around town as Regina would shake her head in an amused annoyance. That was something special they had together.

The bills crinkle as she tightens her fist just watching the group. David had given her some money when he left the pier. Just in case she wanted to get something for herself.

She watches as Henry smiles brightly and laughs wholeheartedly; Regina smoothing an errant strand of hair from his face. She misses her mother’s fingers in her curls. She had a way of fussing over you that still makes you feel safe somehow.

Henry suddenly gazes out the window and catches her eye. She turns away quickly hoping that he hadn’t seen her but she knows that he did. The teen can’t help herself from taking a quick peek back to see if he’s still looking. If anything, his smile gets even brighter. He gives a soft nod for her to come in the building. She shakes her head furtively. An exasperated look comes across his face. He nods a little more demandingly this time.

She stares at the group longingly. Even if she does go in it’s not like she’ll be sitting with them. Though it might be nice to at least be near them. Just hearing their laughter.

Henry gazes imploringly at her. She sighs and nods. He grins back.

She glances around before making a few quick strides to the door of Granny’s. She feels the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She can’t help but feel that someone’s watching her.

As she steps in the doorway with the chime of the bell above her, the feeling slips away to the back her mind. It’s as though she’s a sudden circus freak that everyone is now staring at.

She dips her head low already feeling incredibly insecure; as if she made a huge mistake. A very real part of her debates running out of the diner as fast as her Track and Field training will take her.

Keeping her head down she starts to cross the floor and make her way to a secluded table in the back corner.

Before she can get there, her name is called.

“Dove!”

“Ms Main,”

Two voices call out simultaneously. Surprisingly, the words come from both Regina’s and and Emma’s lips instead of Henry or David’s.

Heather stops like a deer in the headlights.

It’s Emma who continues.

“Why don’t you come join us kid?”

Heather peers towards the others and is surprised to see that they’re all still smiling but this time...at her.

Henry nods encouragingly and pats the seat next to him.

The brunette nods meekly and makes her way across the floor towards their table. Snow and Henry are wearing matching beams. Emma smiles comfortingly as Regina nods approvingly at the girls decision. It’s David who is looking as though he’s attempting to stop himself from tearing up.

“Dad you ok?” Emma asks amused

He nods and sniffs. “Allergies.” It’s a lame excuse but it seems to work well enough.

The attention is back on her when Henry grabs her hand and pulls her down into the booth beside him. 

She gives him a shaky smile as she desperately tries to stop herself from biting on her thumb or playing with her hair. 

“So dear. How is the tutoring coming along?”

It takes a moment and Henry elbowing her for her to realize that Regina had asked the question to her. 

“Oh. It’s been going well Mayor Mills.”

The woman nods again seemingly stopping herself from asking more questions as Ruby appears to take their orders.

“So normals for everyone right?”

They all nods and then the waitress turns on her.

“Oh hey. I’m Ruby. I don’t think I’ve seen you around before.”

Henry pokes her thigh when her knee starts tapping frantically. 

Luckily Emma seems to catch her nerves and answers for her. 

“Dove’s new in town.” She leaves it at that and the wolf takes the hint.

“Sure. What can I get you then?”

Heather doesn’t even have to look at the menu to find what she wants. “Grilled cheese please. With steamed vegetables on the side and a glass of water.”

She peers under her eyelashes to see Regina nodding approvingly as well as shooting a glance to the blond sheriff and her son as if saying; why can’t you be more like her?

Emma smiles towards her as Ruby walks away. 

“Nice choice. That’s my favourite here.”

“Mine too.” She replies shyly.

“It’s your favourite?!” Snow bursts out.

David places a soothing hand on her arm both of them hoping she won’t say anything too incriminating.

“Why didn’t you say so? I would have made it for you!”

Emma peers between the three of them. “Wait what?”

Snow shakes her head with a rueful grin. “Dove is staying with us at the loft.”

Emma furrows her brows deeply. “Why would she be staying-“ thankfully he words are cut off by a sudden commotion though later it might have been preferable to what happened next.

A puff of her black smoke appears in the centre of the Diner throwing tables, chairs and people across the room at breakneck speeds.

Everyone at her table stands up quickly as if preparing themselves for a battle.

An enraged Dark One appears from the plumes of death; his teeth grinding themselves to dust and low growls escaping his throat.

“Gold!” David calls. “What is the meaning of-“

“YOU!” The sorcerer bellows deafeningly, his Death stare focused like lasers onto Regina. Heather swears if looks could kill, the mayor would be 6 feet under.

He doesn’t give a warning before his actions. With a quick wave of his hand, the Queen goes soaring through the air, through the glass wall of Granny’s right out onto the concrete street outside. The pawnshop owner disappearing into a puff of smoke and instantly reappearing right beside the woman’s form.

“REGINA!” Emma screams in tandem with Henry’s wails of ‘MOM!’

The sheriff, her parents, Henry and half of the diner’s occupants rush outside to see what’s happening. Heather is frozen. All she can see is the image of her mother’s eyes slipping closed for the final time racing through her mind.

The mayor picks herself up off the cold concrete already wafting plumes of purple magic. “What the HELL WAS THAT FOR?!” She practically screams at the man. Glass falls from her hair and coat as she stands and a small stream of blood leaks from a deep gash on her cheek. She grabs her shoulder and popsthe joint back into place with a sickening crack.

The pawnshop owner is obviously out of it as pure black smoke whips around him like tendrils ready to snap at anyone who dare come near.

“YOU DID THIS! SHE’S GONE BECAUSE OF YOU!” He spits venomously. Crackles and sparks of magic and fire spray the crowd around them. People scream and pull away. 

“Who?!” Regina yells back already trying to focus on deflecting powerful spells and curses he flings at her with all of his might.

“BELLE!”

Regina whips a fire ball right back at him and he stumbles.

“So what? Your girlfriend left and you’re blaming me?!”

The pair continue to exchange insults and throw dangerous magic at each other. At this point Heather had joined the group outside and allows herself to be pulled into David’s protective side embrace. None of the others are even paying attention to her. 

“YOU TOOK AWAY THE ONLY THING THAT I LOVED NOW IM GOING TO TAKE AWAY YOURS!”

Regina falters in her defence before coming back stronger. “You will NOT TOUCH Henry!!”

“I WILL KILL YOU!” He snarls with the most dangerous and venomous tone any of them have ever heard. It sends rapid chills down their spines.

At this point Henry and Heather are convinced that Gold is one who’s going to poison Regina tomorrow.

“GO AHEAD!” The mayor screams back just as dangerously. Even though her voice is still strong, they all see her defence falter slightly.

The Dark One smiles maliciously and sends a powerful blast of magic towards her.

Before it can hit, a flash of gold flies up and the magic ricochets and comes right back towards Gold hitting him squarely in the chest and throwing him back.

The man growls. “This is not over!” He hisses before disappearing into a cloud of black.

Regina looks up from the ground where she’d dropped when felt the magic breaking her barrier. Emma stands panting in front of her, he’s hands still raised and her gold shield still up around them.

She drops her hands and turns towards the mayor.

“You ok?” She extends her hand to Regina who excepts it with a hiss as her should is jarred.

“Yeah.” She breaths. “I’m good.”

-

The glowing blue figure watches the battle rage on with a fierce and disturbing grin set firmly on its face until Emma steps in and the grin melts to a deep glower.

The form hisses and limps back into the shadows. 


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys!
> 
> We’re getting down to the final few chapters. Wow has this story had some great nail biting moments (I think) And now, we finally learn who the Blue is! Dun dun DUN!
> 
> Anyway thanks for putting up with me and my crazed updating schedule. 
> 
> Bre <3

Neither of the kids sleep that night. Going back to what the last little while had been, that night Heather sneaks into Henry’s bedroom knowing that he’s going to be worried about the next day. Truth be told, Heather also wants to be with someone who knows exactly what she’s feeling at the moment. Fear. Fear of losing a parent. This entire thing, Regina’s entire life and her family’s entire existence is resting on her shoulders. If she doesn’t stop her mother from consuming the potion, one day she’ll die and Heather’s life with be in tatters. Emma will still go insane, Henry will still leave and Storybrooke will still end up without a saviour, a mayor or a thriving community. It all rests on her.

No pressure or anything.

She knows that neither of them were actually sleeping. Every so often she could hear Henry sigh loudly and roll over. She herself couldn’t even close her eyes, nerves rolling over her. So when she stood up and got dressed with the help of her magic, she knew Henry was watching silently.

The boy rolls over just enough to see the time on his alarm clock. 4:28.

“Where are you going?” He whispers in the darkness for not even the sun was awake. 

A puff of air escapes her lips and she dips her head lowly. “I don’t know.”

He’s watching her. She can feel the heat of his gaze on her and every cell in her body screams at her to leave as quickly as she can. She can’t do this. She can’t face the idea of letting him down. What fucked up twisted deity decided that she should have to be the one to save everyone? How the hell is that fair?! She’s only 16 for God’s sake! This isn’t right.

She shrugs on her black leather jacket and shoves the sleeves up to her elbows. 

Henry slips into a sitting position and swings his feet to the floor. 

“Let me come with you.”

The brunette sighs as she laces up her combat boots. “Not this time Hen.”

“But-“

She continues through his interruption. “You can’t. The day can’t start with Mom not knowing where you are and throwing everything off.”

He nods heavily clearly unhappy about it. His nerves are obviously shot as much as hers are. He knows what the day is, he knows what will happen if Gold gets to Regina first. 

“I’m gonna go clear my head,” she mumbles and opens up his window.

“Wait.” He calls. She turns to find him scrambling out of bed and then rummaging though a chest in his closet. He emerges a moment later with two walkie-talkie’s in his hands. 

“Here. In case anything happens.”

She smiles slightly, running her fingers over the brand new buttons. She remembers when her and Henry would start on opposite sides of the house and try to find each other with only the walkie-talkie. 

“What’s the range?” She asks softly still feeling nostalgic.

“Uh 30 ft,” he rubs the back of his neck sheepishly.

She waves her hand. “Not anymore. It’ll work anywhere in Storybrooke now.”

“Cool!”

She clips the device to her jean loop and turns back to the window. 

“Hey Heather?” The boy whispers 

She sighs deeply just barely turning her head.   
“Yeah?”

“Be careful?”

A small sad smiles flits across her face. “I will Kid.”

— 

A flicker of pain radiates through her ankles as she jumps the last 5 rungs off the ladder onto the concrete below her. 

With a wave of her hand the ladder disappears and she doesn’t even glance back to see Henry frowning as he closes his window behind her. 

It’s freezing in the early hour, the sun is just starting to peek over the horizon as her breath transforms to fog in front of her face. Strangely, she’s doesn’t even register the cold. Out in her thin jacket, a cropped tank top and ripped jeans she should be shivering at the least but all she feels is numb. 

If she doesn’t do something, her mother is going to agree to her death today. Just knowing that she’s laying there sleeping, safe and sound in her house, no idea what’s going to happen today, she just couldn’t stand to be there. Every part of her was screaming to rush down the hall and tell Regina absolutely everything. She was ready to spill her guts and make 100% sure that the Mayor knew she was in danger. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t do it.

While one part of her mind screamed at her to tell her mother everything, the other part just kept repeating that if she told the woman anything, Regina would find out how pathetic of a person she really is. How could anyone be proud of the fuck up she is. For God sake, what daughter of the Former Evil Queen and Savior can’t complete a simple transference spell. Even the new fairies can do it! No Regina can’t know that her daughter grows up to be a misfit. She certainly can’t find out that Emma is a neglectful mother either because that could screw everything up. Everyone knows that Regina would do absolutely anything for her kids, she’d never agree to date Emma if she knew that after she dies the woman chases away her son and grows distant from her daughter. Nope it will simply not do to tell her anything. Heather will just have to watch her every move for the day and hope to god she intercepts Gold when he tries to give her the potion. 

She’s so absolutely lost in thought that she doesn’t even notice that she has a tag-along until the woman is tapping her on the arm trying to get her attention. 

In her moments of obliviousness, Emma had seen her across the street and jogged over to meet her.

Emma yanks she’d hand back when she notices the girl jump. “Woah Kid, I didn’t realize you didn’t hear me.”

Heather shakes herself. “No um it’s fine sorry. Lost in thought.”

Emma nods thoughtfully and rubs at her ear momentarily. Heather almost smiles, she does that too. Must be one of Emma’s many ticks that she inherited. 

“What are you doing out here?” She asks the blonde finally noticing still how early it is.

“Oh, early start. Hook got loose last night and Mrs Grenouille found him rummaging around in her shed at 4, completely shit faced.” Heather chuckles along with the sheriff. It feels nice to laugh with Emma. Strange but nice.

“How about you?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re out here too.” She’s not quite sure if Emma knows it or not but she has on her ‘mom warning’ face that she often used on Heather growing up. Unfortunately for her, this means that without really realizing, she suddenly has an urge to spill her guts like a 5 year old hoping to avoid being punished. 

“I just had to get away.”

“From my parents house?” Oh. She was hoping that Emma had forgotten that little detail.

“No, I was staying with a friend.”

“Do they know that you’re wandering the streets in only a thin jacket? I mean- oh jeez kid!” Her words startle the brunette into stopping in her place. 

“What?!”

“Your fingers are blue!” She reaches out and grabs the teens fingers which do indeed have a semi- bluish/purplish hue. “Do you not feel that?!”

Heather yanks her hands back. Once Emma announced it to be freezing outside she can suddenly feel the bone chilling frost in the air. 

“Here!” Emma thrusts a pair of thick knitted red mittens into her hands as her numb fingers fumble to keep a hold on them. 

The brunette stares down at them for a bit longer than Emma’s liking so the sheriff pulls the mittens onto her hands for her. 

“Something wrong?” She asks when the girl continues to stare at them in awe. 

“These are your favourite.” Heather whispers, the chilled wind almost sweeping her words away. These are Emma’s mittens. Snow knitted them for her when she first got to Storybrooke and Regina charmed them a few years later after she noticed Emma still trying to warm her hands with them on. They’re also the pair that Heather keeps safe and hidden in a box under her bed of things that she finds to painful to remember on the daily. Emma gifted her them on her 10th birthday. 

Unwanted tears fill her eyes but she refuses to let them fall. She can feel the blondes concerned gaze on her but she doesn’t give into the unspoken question lingering. She mumbles out a quick “thanks.”

“No problem,” Emma shoves her hands deep into her jean’s pockets. The pair continue to walk in silence until Emma of course breaks its “Hey kid?”

She waits until the teen looks at her with her bright green eyes that the sheriff still can’t get over. “Where is your mom?” She remembers the girl telling her that her other mother passed away.

Heather freezes again. Damn Emma for asking all the hard questions. “Out of town.” She says the obvious answer. 

The woman shakes her head almost instantly. “No she’s not. Want to try again?”

The brunette stares hard at her. “How do you know?” She challenges.

Emma shrugs. “Superpower.”

She scoffs. “Superpowers don’t exist,” she grits out bitterly. 

“Um yeah they do.”

“They don’t.” She strains 

“I’m pretty sure they do.” Emma grins cockily

“They DON’T! They can’t! Because if they existed then none of this would be happening!” The words come blaring out without any permission and she has to shove back the embarrassed flush that wants to creep over her face. 

“What wouldn’t be happening?”

Heather shrugs her shoulders and tries to play it off. “Nothing.” She mumbles

“No. It’s not nothing,” the blonde insists. “What is happening Dove?”

“Nothing! I have to go,” she tries to get past but the sheriff steps in front of her preventing her exit. 

“Tell me.” She all but demands.

“Why?!” She breaks. “I’m a selfish runner aren’t I?! Just let me go!” She throws her mother’s cruel words back in her face.

Emma’s face takes on a look of shock. “What?”

“Is everything alright here Sheriff Swan?” The car door slams shut as she exits the drivers seat. 

Oh great. Now Regina’s here. Is it 6? Have they really been walking for an hour and a half?

“I’m not sure yet Mayor Mills.” Emma answers back but keeps her eyes on the teen. 

Heather rolls her eyes. “It’s fine.” She hisses as she brushes past the blonde finally. Within two steps Emma’s hand is clamped onto her wrist.

Before she can stop it, a surge of magic swells up inside her chest and jolts the sheriff with an electric shock. 

“Ouch!” She pulls back instantly. By this time Regina is right beside her.

“Holy shit.” The blonde breathes. “It’s you.” Both of the older women are staring at her in shock. She’s the one with the powerful magic they’ve been feeling. 

Heather stands there frozen in a panicked state of shock. Then something catches her eyes which sends rapid chills down her spine and causes her heart to speed up so fast that she thinks he’s going to black out. 

A puff of cerulean blue smoke appears behind the mayor. Time moves in slow motion as she watches the figure raise its fist. Tangled in its fingers is the largest blade she’s ever seen. And it’s headed straight for her mother’s heart. 

With time almost standing still, she feels the swell of magic once again grow hot in her chest. She throws her hands out screaming at the figure hoping to prevent her mother from being stabbed in the back.

“NOOOO!” It’s the most heart wrenching sound she’s ever heard. It permeates the air everywhere around them shaking Sheriff and Mayor to their cores. 

In a sudden blast of lilac coloured sparks and rays, the two women and the figure unknowingly behind them are all thrown in different directions through the air. 

Heather puffs harshly as the magic flows from her finger tips finally slowing when the danger isn’t as prominent. She watches with bated breath as the figure slowly raises itself up with a ragged cough, having been separated from its weapon. 

A choked noise escapes her throat when she comes face to face with the feared Blue that her mother once warned her about. 

“Oh my god,” she breathes out. 

Standing less than 30 feet from her now with a snarling expression and an angered disposition, is the figure of a young woman. It‘s not Gold.

It’s...her.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised.
> 
> ⚠️ TRIGGER WARNING ⚠️ This chapter contains graphic violence that not everyone may be comfortable with. I hope you all know what your limits are and I apologize but this is where my mind went to with this story.

Every single thought that had been in her mind has completely vanished. Her head is reeling, no real thoughts even coming though. It’s like static on a car radio where only little bits and pieces of thoughts are made out but full sentences aren’t coming through. 

It’s her. How can it be her?! 

“But you’re...” she can’t even finish her sentence.

The magical figure smiles cruelly, casually flicking a strand of Heather’s chocolate curls over its shoulder. “You?” It’s her. Her voice. Everything. “Bet that was a funny little surprise wasn’t it?”

“But I- I don’t...”

Emma loudly interrupts them. “What the FUCK is going on?!” She bellows, picking herself up off the ground then turning to help Regina. 

The Blue rolls it’s eyes and raises a fist. “Shut up.” It hisses. With a few crackling blue sparks, both the sheriff and the mayor are frozen in place, unable to move. Both of their eyes go wide and Heather can just imagine Regina logically going through her repertoire for a counterattack even in her vulnerable position while Emma attempts to use brute strength and fury to break the magic.

“God. She is so annoying.” The powerful creature rolls it’s eyes hard. “Why haven’t you just killed her already?”

Heather falters. “What? Why- I...”

“Well I just thought that you’d want revenge on the mother that fucks you over in the future.”

And there it is. The one secret she’d kept for weeks is now out in the open. She can’t even bare to look at Emma now that she knows she’s her mother.

“I- what are you?” She whispers brokenly.

Her future self chuckles darkly, the viciousness of the sound sending rapid chills up her spine and making her skin crawl. 

“Well, I’m you. And I’m not.”

“What the fuck does that mean?!” She grinds

“Ah ah ah,” the creature wags it’s finger condescendingly. “My my. Like mother like daughter I suppose. You know, she’s like your saviour sometimes.” It says the words as if they leave a horrible taste in its mouth.

“What?” 

“She fights against me. She used to be strong,” it calmly walks towards the sheriff. “But she’s getting weaker.” A manic giggle escapes its throat. “You wanna hear a little story?” It doesn’t wait for an answer. “Once upon a time, a sheriff looking to avenge the death of her wife summoned me from the depths of hell itself and tethered me to her daughter in the hopes that the girl could defeat me. Spoiler alert. She can’t.” The Blue runs a gentle finger down Emma’s cheek that seems incredibly caring for someone who wants her to die.

“DON’T TOUCH HER!” Heather screams sending a massive fireball straight for it.

“NO.” The creature commands firmly as it easily catches the magic. With a hiss, the fire evaporates in its hand. “That will not do.”

The brunette teen pants heavily, internally panicking. This thing whatever the hell it is- is more powerful than she is. She can’t fight it and expect to win. What does it mean that Emma summoned it? That thing is her... but it’s not? It’s just using her body, her image?

“You- you said can’t.” The Blue turns to her. “You said can’t not couldn’t. She’s still there isn’t she. I am.”

The Blue cocks it’s head. “Hmm. Attentive little girl aren’t you.” It sighs. “Yes. Your stupid little future self is still inside me. Fighting. She’s still as feisty as ever.” Just as it finishes it’s last word it clenches it’s jaw in pain. Heather watches as the eyes in her future self’s body fade from a brilliant blue back to their original emerald green. The colour flickers for a moment before rapidly returning to blue.

“You’re wrong.” Heather states calmly. “She isn’t getting weaker is she? She’s winning.”

The creature bellows out a cruel and twisted laugh. 

Heather cuts it off. “If she weren’t defeating you than you wouldn’t be here to kill Regina.”

It stops immediately.

“You’re dying and she’s winning.”

“NO!” It snarls but immediately doubles over in pain. It stumbles momentarily before jerking back into a standing position. 

“Regina needs to die!” 

“WHY?!” 

“BECAUSE IF SHE DIES NOW, YOU WILL NEVER HAVE BEEN BORN!!” The screech it sends into the air nearly pierces her ear drums. 

“So she is winning,” Heather states viciously. “You are going to cease to exist so you needed to come back and make sure that I never come to be. If I’m not alive, you won’t be defeated.”

“I WILL KILL YOU!” The Blue screams harshly. It throws it hands forewords and Heather goes flying backwards into the windshield of Emma’s police cruiser. “I will ruin your entire life.” It snarls as it descends upon her as she tries to pull herself out of the glass and off the ground. “I will murder your family starting with your arrogant grandparents. I’ll rip out their hearts and force them to kill each other. Then I’m going to move on to your big brother. Henry is it?” It laughs maniacally. “Yes I have the perfect solution for him. I will hang him by his throat from your favourite little apple tree that you two used to climb and have you and your parents watch as he suffocates. Then,” it grabs her by her throat and lifts her high into the air. “Then I’m going to hurt you. Not kill you right away, there’s no fun in that. Next, I’m going to slice open your fucking mommy so you and your ‘Mama’ can watch her die. AGAIN.” The once blue eyes are now as black as midnight as Heather chokes from its hand around her throat. Tears rapidly fill her eyes as each scenario plays out in her mind as the beast describes it. 

Cold fingers slowly reach down to her waist and skillfully unloop the walkie-talkie from her jeans. It bring it up to its lips, never taking it’s dead eyes from hers. “Henry? I’m going to kill your family. Why don’t you bring everyone.”

The loudest most pained scream rips itself from Heather’s body and with a brilliant flash of purple light, the beast which had its hands around her throat goes sailing through the air backwards until it collides sickeningly with the concrete. Heather drops heavily to the ground panting and trying to rid her eyes of the blackness in her vision from the lack of oxygen. 

She watches warily as the Blue rights itself fairly easily as it snaps its shoulder back into its socket and wipes away the blood from the large wound on the left side of its face from where the skin grated off on the road. 

“Hmm. You are just as feisty as she is.” It grins wildly and instantly starts throwing spells and magic at her as hard as it can. If anyone were there to watch, it would be reminiscent of the fight between Gold and Regina only the day earlier.

The teen counters each wave of magic that the creature throws at her yet she can’t hold her own as well. She isn’t skilled enough on her own. Glass slices through her cheek when one of its spells blasts through her defence, a fireball burns through her jacket leaving the right side of her stomach burned. It sends spell after spell, curse after curse soaring towards her so quickly that she can’t keep up. It’s going to kill her in this street and it will all have been for nothing. Regina will still die and maybe this time, she’ll have never been born. 

The beast shoots a particularly nasty flourish of magic towards her that knocks her off her feet and manages to pin her body to the ground. Unable to move, it once again slowly makes its way upon her. “You know why I’m here with a knife this time?” It asks nonchalantly. Heather glares as hard as she can as if her expression could somehow unravel the magic that’s holding her down. “4 years ago, she was standing right where you are. She watched my past self defeat her and force your mother to drink the potion and sign the contract to save your life.”

It sees the confused look in the teens eyes. “Oh yes. Regina signed that contract to stop you from being harmed in the future. In her defence she thought it meant Henry but no. It was you. She died, to save you.” It grins savagely. “Now isn’t that sweet. You’re the reason your own mother dies.” It says with a false simperingly sweet disposition. 

Heather’s eyes drop. She was right. It is her fault. Regina’s going to die and it’s all her fault. 

“Unfortunately, my past self didn’t realize that your pathetic mother was as strong as she is. She fought the potion longer than anticipated and thus you were still born. This time, I’m going to get it right.”

“Fuck. You.” Heather spits in her face taking even the smallest amount of pleasure from watching her saliva land on the creatures happiness crazed face.

It just rolls it’s eyes and goes to wipe it away. Before it’s hand fully reaches its face, the black eyes flicker into green once more before they’re forced back and the Blue returns angrier than ever. It’s foot comes down hard on the ground and Heather screams louder than she ever has.

Her ribs crack and splinter in her chest from the magic exerted on her body. Then she watches as one by one, the fingers on her left hand bend backwards and snap. She pants heavily as the creature takes absolute pleasure in her anguish. Then it groans. It stumbles backwards away from the brunette on the ground and clutches its head. Heather looks on through the fog of pain clouding her mind as the emerald green forces it’s way back into her own body. 

“Help. Me.” She grinds out looking straight at her past self. 

A plan starts to form itself even through the haziness in her head. 

She watches on as the beast once again represses the owner of the body and slides back into place though not before it stumbles and trips to the ground. It growls in unbridled anger. 

Heather slowly gets to her feet still panting in pain. “Just tell me this.” She spits out the blood that made its way into her throat. “What did Gold...give Emma before she killed him?”

The creature cackles mercilessly. “Oh that? You stupid little girl. You still don’t get it do you? That was Regina’s journal. You see, when your mother was given the potion that was supposed to kill her, she started writing down everything and anything that she learned about the curse. As you grew up, she started to notice that you looked more and more like the thing that came to kill her. She figured it out.” A bright, crazed smiles slithers across its face. “Emma knows that you were going to grow up to kill the love of her life. She hates you.”


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry guys! 
> 
> I’m sorry this update took so long, my family is dealing with the loss of my grandmother who just passed away. 
> 
> Thank you for your patience with me. This will be the second last chapter with only one more to go before this story is finished. Wow, that’s crazy. 
> 
> I will also say that this chapter has some ⚠️ trigger warnings ⚠️ For depictions of violence and a little gore. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. I’m not sure it’s my best work but I’m also writing it at 3:30 AM so... Yeah.
> 
> Bre <3

There’s only silence as the words leave the creatures lips. Chaos ensues all around them as the magic in both forms of Heather swirl and shift. Buildings shake and crumble as trees and cars go flying through the air. 

“No.” A whisper in the air.

“Yes.” It grins maliciously, something filling it’s features. Hate? Disgust maybe? Staring down at her own face as it’s twisted and contorted into an inhuman expression... she wants it to stop. 

Stop. Her ma doesn’t hate her. She can’t.

A wave of lilac magic surges around her in a massive spiralling storm that whips her hair around and sends electricity shooting in every direction. 

Stop. Regina won’t die by her own hand. She won’t allow it.

A blast of her power shoots through the air, pelting the creature and forcing it to go on the defensive to protect itself. It’s grin drops.

Stop. The anger and pain in her heart rises. It can’t end this way. It won’t.

She’s vaguely aware of a group of people attempting to draw nearer to the duelling sorcerers. She can faintly hear Snow yelling for Emma and Regina while Henry screams her own name through the carnage. 

Unfortunately, the creature can hear him too.

Bright blue eyes glow momentarily before they blink and snap in his direction. 

“Times up.” It cackles already halfway to him. She tries to throw magic at it but it just laughs and easily deflects it. It leaves the teen panting and sweating. 

A tear slips down Heather’s ashen cheek. This is it. Henry is going to die. Then it’ll be Snow and David, Emma and Regina. This is it.

“Stop,” she whispers brokenly, her knees buckling as she falls to the ground. Her tear hits the pavement, unnoticed in the wreckage. 

It’s unlike anything anyone had ever seen. When asked what happened down the line, people would say that all they saw was an ocean of gold that rapidly enveloped them all, a sense of peace overwhelming them but contrasting greatly to the sounds they’d heard. Deafening cracks and groans as sections of the pavement, the size of school buses soured into the air and rushed towards a common enemy. An inhumane screech filled the empty air as the concrete rose. 

As the smoke cleared and their hearing was nothing but a shrill whistle, the gathered group started to move. 

Snow ran straight towards her daughter as once the creature had been knocked down, the magic surrounding the blond sheriff and the brunette mayor had broken, sending them both careening towards the ground.

Henry went straight towards where he’d last seen his sister. 

“Heather?!” His eyes fill with tears as he trips and stumbles through the rubble of the once complete street. 

David catches the fear in the boys voice. He backs himself away from his daughter, his eyes searching rapidly left and right in his haste. 

He can’t see her. He quickly finds himself rushing through the carnage, pushing and shifting concrete, his heart beating erratically in his chest.

“Heather!” He bellows over the car alarms in the distance. 

“David? Where are you going?” His wife asks desperately. Her hands are still all over Emma as the sheriff coughs for air and tries to brush her away.

If he hears her question, he doesn’t answer her. His movements become frantic. This can’t be how she dies. His granddaughter is not going to die today. Not when all she did is come back to try and save her family.

“HEATHER! Please!!” Henry screams, his voice cracking midway through as hot tears stream furiously down his cheeks.

“Henry!” Regina shouts seeing a mangled figure drag itself off the ground just to the near left of his searching hands. 

Bones snap and crack as it lifts itself up, rocks and debris falling around it as if shifts the ground. 

Snap. A shoulder back in its socket.

Crack. A spine split and shifted into place.

Pop. A neck forced upright.

Click. A knee splintered forewords.

Like an discarded marionette repairing itself, the eerie creature shifts and moves. Like a broken doll in the shop, a crushed cheekbone sunken into its face, rights itself and fills out the space. Fingers, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 snap forwards into place. Elbow cracks as the arm returns to a foreword bend instead of an unnatural backwards. 

A mangled snarl tears through the tangle of hair still left on its head. Once beautiful chocolate curls now hang limply and messily around a scraped and bloodied face. 

A carnal shriek rips through the air. The group is forced to cover their ears less the drums rupture. 

With an expeditious flick of the wrist, rubble and debris shift and fly uncaring of who it attacks in the process. In a swift motion, an equally as broken figure is lifted into the air from beneath said debris and dropped to the ground. 

Heather’s body jerks with pain. Her vision blurry and unfocused. Something screams vaguely through the deafening pounding in her head. It’s like a marching band of 1000 drummers is beating in her skull. She slowly turns her head meeting the triumphant and smug gaze of the thing that took over her body in the future and is now going to kill her. She blinks indolently as the creatures eyes swiftly change to a frightened emerald green then back to a bright angry blue just as quickly. 

It’s going to make good on its promise. It strides casually towards her.

“Heather!” Henry roars already running towards the pair.

“No.” She groans, trying to will her body to listen to her brain and move. It’ll kill him.

It smirks waiting for him to reach them. 

Fortunately, Regina seems to realize this also as she shoots a wave of purple magic that freezes the boy where he stands. 

“NO!” He cries out in frustration. “It’s gonna kill her!”

David flicks his gaze back and forth between his grandson and the prone form of his granddaughter still trying to pull herself off the ground.

Heather’s head snaps up as quickly as she can when the creature groans and grabs for its head. Emerald eyes meet emerald eyes. 

“You have to... stop- me.” It pants heavily.

“What?” She whispers as the human form is pushed away and the Blue takes control once again. 

It said ‘me’. ‘Stop me’ not stop ‘it’ 

The thing snarls and bites like a rabid animal. 

Heather finally gets her body to stumble to its feet. “You’re losing control aren’t you?”

“NO!” It screams wildly and without any warning sends a spark of magic that knocks Regina off her feet and breaks the witches spell on Henry. 

“Regina!” Emma screeches rushing over to the woman who’s gasping for breath.

The boy unfreezes and continues in his attempt to reach his sister. 

“EMMA!” Charming bellows at the top of his lungs towards his daughter who stands frozen at the scene playing out before her. “Do something!”

Her expression flounders and she waves her arms in a panic. She watches as the creature conjures a large blade in one hand and a fireball in the other. It’s going to take out both Henry and Dove in two swift actions.

“THEY’RE YOUR KIDS!” 

Her mouth drops open. None of this makes any sense!

“SHE’S YOUR DAUGHTER EMMA! Do something!!” 

With speed she didn’t realize she was capable of the sherif takes off towards the trio.

Green eyes meet green eyes once again. Future Heather whispers in pain. “Please.” She begs her past self. “You need to kill... me”

“No.” The teen states firmly. “There has to be another- way,” she gasps as blood starts to trickle from her ear and down her nose. 

“It- can’t survive without... a body. Please!” 

“NO.” She growls back.

This time instead of the blue eyes sweeping away the green, there’s pure black. Evil, soulless, blood chilling, blank canvas, black. From out of nowhere a massive blade appears in its left hand and a fireball in the right. 

Heather closes her eyes as she sees Henry just about to step in front of her. Her magic is drained and even without the blade or fire, she’s pretty certain she’s going to die. Blood from the ear. That’s properly internal bleeding of some kind anyway. 

She feels Henry’s fingers reach out for hers as in slow motion, the creature raises its arm to throw the fire at him. That is until a flash of blonde pushes them both back.

Fireball makes contact with flesh, instantly searing a hole through the unfortunate victims body and shooting them 20 feet away. 

The most guttural and painful howl penetrates Heathers ears and it takes her a minute to realize where it came from. Her eyes respond to movement. It was Regina. The scream came from the mayor who is now rushing desperately to a fallen figure. A figure with golden blonde curls and a gaping, charred, hole in her chest. 

Henry can only stare dead eyed in shock. Then chaos. Snow screams and David drops to his knees. Everyone seemingly having forgotten about the killer still standing before the Swan-Mills children. Heather hasn’t though.

She watches as what remains of her future self flickers between emerald green eyes and black soulless orbs. Just as Heather seems to get in control, the Blue pushes her back.

“Kill...me!”

“NO!”

“Please” she whispers, begging her past self.

“I can’t,” Heather cries 

“Then you don’t have to.” And before she can even react to her words, the older woman reaches into her chest and rips out her heart.

Heather gasps in shock and Henry pulls her back from running to her and shoving the organ back in her chest. 

“No!” She screams desperately. “Please we can find a way!”

“Let her do it.” Henry whispers 

The future girl gives her a watery smile as she cradles the glowing blue heart in her palms. “I have to. It’s the only way to end this. Please destroy it.” In a swift motion she squeezes the organ and drops to her knees in pain. The teen can see the Blue trying to gain control again but this time, Heather is more powerful.

Tears slip down her cheeks. “Take care of them.” She whispers before she squeezes one last time and crushes her heart to dust. 

The brunette openly sobs at not having been able to save her. Henry hugs her tightly.

From the dead girl, a mass of swirling blue smoke emerges. A red hot surge of hatred builds in the crying teen and she musters every last ounce of magic still in her to create a gigantic fireball that she shoots into the air and destroys the Blue once and for all. 

Almost instantly Henry remembers Emma and rushes over the mass of townspeople. He tries to shove his way through, seeing Regina, Snow and David all on their knees around the blondes ashen form. 

The mayor cradles the the sheriff’s head in her lap, freely allowing the tears to fall down her cheeks. 

“Emma.” She murmurs desperately smoothing the curls from the saviours sweaty face. “Please don’t leave me.” Tears drip off her chin landing on the stupid red jacket that Regina secretly loves so much. “I’m sorry.” She hiccups. “I never told you.”

The sheriff gurgles as she tries to make out words in response to the woman holding her. Blood speckles her lips as she coughs and chokes. 

“Regina you have to do something!” Snow sniffles, her chest heaving in panic. 

“I can’t! Don’t you understand? I can’t heal! I don’t know how!” 

Emma gasps for breath as blood continues to pour from the wound in her chest. 

“Ma!” Henry bursts through the crowd and drops to the ground beside her. He grabs her hand as it reaches blindly for him. “Mom you have to do something.”

Regina’s desperate eyes meet his. “I don’t know what to do Henry.”

“HEATHER!” He shrieks. The crowd parts so that the boy can see the girl. “Heather, Ma-“ To his horror, she’s on the ground, her entire body translucent as if she were a ghost that’s fading away. 

Fading away.

Heather is Emma and Regina’s daughter. No Emma means no Heather.

Heather

“KISS HER!” 

Regina’s head snaps up from stroking Emma’s face. “What?” She whispers brokenly 

“Kiss her! True Love’s Kiss!”

She shakes her head. “Henry...”

“Do it.” David insists as he too sees his Granddaughter fading from existence. “Heather is both of yours. She’s the product of your true love.”

Regina‘s eyes sparkle with a renewed hope. Time stands still as she leans down to press her lips softly against the blood speckled ones of the dying blonde. 

They wait. And Nothing happens. 

An agonized gasp of air escapes the mayors lips as she closes her eyes in pain and allows the tears to slip down her tan cheeks. 

Then there’s a flash of white light and the saviour gasps, her emerald eyes shooting open.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is guys! Our final chapter!!

Emma smiles gently watching with fond eyes as her wife gently sets their new baby girl in the bassinet by the foot of their bed in the master bedroom. She’s the most precious thing the blonde has ever seen. Just holding her, touching her soft skin and being able to brush her fingers through the baby’s already thick and dark hair, makes her feel even guiltier for not taking the time to hold Henry or really even see him before the doctor’s took him away. Both Regina and Emma had taken the time to count and then recount all of her fingers and toes, burning her image into their minds. She’s such a gift to them and they’re incredibly fortunate to know that she turns out to be an amazing person when she grows up. 

Emma extends her arm and wraps it around her wife when the mayor steps into her embrace. Regina drops her head to the blondes shoulder as they both stand in the doorway watching their little girls chest rise and fall with each inhale and exhale. 

“She’s perfect.” Regina whispers into the quiet of the house. Snow and David had offered to have Henry say with them for the weekend so that the once again new parents could spend time with their little girl. 

“She’s going to be even more amazing when she grows up.” The blonde agrees. She frowns slightly when she feels her wife’s shoulders tense. She knows that Regina doesn’t like to talk about what happened two years ago. When she almost lost her True Love once again and her daughter almost died just to save her life. Her little girl was sent back in time to save Regina and her being hurt is something that the mother can’t ever forgive herself for even if she couldn’t have changed anything.

“I hope she’s safe,” Regina buries her face into the Blondes curls as she turns towards the soft section of skin where Emma’s collar bone meets her neck. 

“Me too, hon” the sheriff sighs as she gently runs her fingers though the brunette’s hair. It’s gotten longer in the two years since everything happened. It now rests just above cleavage level making the already (semi) young mayor look even younger. Snow had reminisced the other day that her style currently is very similar to what it had been in the Enchanted Forest when the pair had first met. Emma likes the idea that she now knows what her wife might have looked like all those years ago. 

In the two years since the ‘Great Battle’ as the townsfolk have started to refer to it as, so much has changed. Emma and Regina with a lot of help from Cora’s old spell books, were finally able to take down the barrier at the town line so that people could come and go as they please. Henry is now 15 and already begging Emma to teach him how to drive (Regina is too much of a back seat driver) and of course her wife has to counter every argument the blonde has in favour of teaching him. They’ve recently started to cultivate fields of magic beans so that the towns people can return to the Enchanted Forest as they like. The Swan-Mills family have been unable to forget this fact as Snow talks about it constantly and Henry humours her stories. They aren’t quite sure how to tell her that neither of them can really see a future for their kids there. 

“What do you think she’s doing now?” Regina asks softly.

Emma brushes a strand of chocolate behind her love’s ear and ghosts a soft kiss beneath the lobe. “I don’t know, G. I hope that she’s safe in her bed with both of us there cuddling her tight.”

“Why couldn’t she have stayed with us.” It’s not a question because neither of them know the answer. They’ve been wondering this since that day. When Emma had awoken and all of the initial commotion had died down, they all turned to get Heather with them and finally have a moment where everyone knew who she was. All Emma wanted to do was hug her so tightly and hope she could prove to her that she would be and was still so loved. That moment never happened because when they all looked to find her, there was a shockingly vibrant red cloud enveloping her form and dragging her away. They assumed, back to the future but they don’t know and they have no way of knowing. 

“We’ll never know, G. I just hope she knows that I’m so proud of her. I’m so proud that she did everything she could to save her family. She’s going to be amazing,” a tear leaks from green eyes. Regina gently wipes it away with the pad of her thumb, brushing her fingers lovingly across her Wife’s lips. 

“I don’t want her to ever feel the pain of what she went through. I don’t want her to grow up and know the feeling of not being loved as much as possible. I hate that she ever had to see me die.” Anger has been a familiar feeling ever since they pestered David and Henry to come clean of all they know about their little girls life. The pair had been understandably heartbroken from what she’d experienced but no one had quite expected the pure anger from Regina towards the blonde. She’d blamed her highly for causing their daughter pain. The pair may have shared True Love’s kiss that day but no one was sure if that would last considering that neither of the women talked to each other for 3 weeks and when they finally had, it was nothing but hurtful remarks and snapping insults from both of them. When Regina finally admitted that she blamed Emma, the blonde being highly defensive herself, retorted that none of it would have ever happened if Regina had been strong enough to fight off the Blue in the first place. For months the women wallowed in their grief and heartbreak. They didn’t know this girl but they knew that it was their fault that she had so much agony in her life. 

It wasn’t until Henry had called Emma in the middle of the night sobbing because he couldn’t get his Mom’s bathroom door open and he’d heard a crash and then a scream. The sheriff had never felt more fear in her life than she did as she shot into her car and drove like a bat out of hell to get to her son’s mother. 

She’d ended up sitting on the floor outside the bathroom for 2 days just doing all she could to get the woman talking to her. On the third day, the door finally creaked open and allowed the distraught brunette to step out and instantly find herself in a desperate hold by the blond saviour. In actuality, Regina had never been angry at Emma. She’d been angry at herself. Emma’s comments against her had been the final straw and there had been a moment where she really considered leaving. It was the Blonde’s late night, sleep deprived murmurings of forgiveness and love that had finally gotten her to open the door. 

“She won’t,” the blonde promises as she plants a kiss on the crown of her wife’s head. She loves to tease that she’s taller than Regina when she’s not wearing her heels. That spot is one of her favourites to kiss. “We’ll make sure she never has to feel the pain ever again. She’s going to be so loved.”

—

A bright flash of gold and then an almost angry colour red were the last things she saw as her eyes slipped closed. 

It could have been seconds from the time she passed out. Maybe it was hours? Who the hell knows? It could have been days! When her eyes did peel themselves open again, the one thing she did know was that she hurt. Everywhere. 

A whimper escapes her lips as she attempts to pick herself up off the ground. Placing her hands beneath her to push up, little pebbles and sand dig into the soft flesh. She blinks, realizing that she’s laying in the middle of the beach, the waves lapping softly in the distance. Her eyes open and she finally fully takes in her surroundings. This is the exact same place she remembers being before waking up in the Forest weeks ago. 

Her heart starts pounding in her ears, the blood rushing to her head as she stumbles to her feet and reaches out to steady herself. There’s nothing there to catch her as her knees buckle and she comes crashing back down into the sand. She clenches her fingers together and then nearly screeches when the pain starts radiating up her wrist towards her elbow. She’d forgotten about her broken fingers. She bites her lip to quell the pain until she tastes copper pennies. Taking a deep breath and allowing herself to go slow, she eventually makes her way to a standing position. Her ribs make it difficult to breath and stand without being hunched over but she takes slow shallow breaths and forces her feet to shuffle along in the sand. 

Walking past the pier and onto Main Street, she doesn’t see anyone. It doesn’t look any different than where she just was. Glancing to her left and right, she muses that the town doesn’t look like it was just partially destroyed. Still no people though. That’s strange. There’s always someone lurking around and she’s always been able to find the ones that are. Right now it’s like a ghost town.

Coming up to town hall and the mayor’s office, she stops and her breathing hitches. It’s ok. No cars are overturned, no trees have fallen. There’s no fire or smoke and the road is perfectly whole. 

Dizziness takes over her senses momentarily and she’s almost positive she’s going to pass out. She knows that if she sits down she’ll never get herself back up so she tries to breath in as deeply as her ribs will let her and use the techniques Archie gave her for her panic attacks.

4 things she can feel. Gravel under her feet. Pain all over her body. Blood leaking from her nose. Um. Uh...

Her panic starts to build higher as her thoughts stutter. She sways on her feet and the urge to run overtakes her. The pain is sharp and almost unbearable but she ignores it and runs as fast as she can past the un-destroyed road and towards the home that isn’t really a home anymore. 

No one is around. There’s no one in the streets, no one on their porches or mowing their lawn; no one walking down the street ranting about their neighbours. Nothing. She has no idea what she’ll find when she opens the door to 108 Mifflin but she does so and enters anyway. When she isn’t immediately fireballed by Regina she shuffles further in. No lights are on and thats already a bad sign. There were always lights on. Well... Emma never had them on. 

Her voice is weak as she calls for her mothers. “Ma?” 

No answer. The tears slip down her cheeks and her panic grows tenfold. “Mom?!”

Still nothing.

Blinding spots flash across her eyes and for a brief moment she’s sure that the next thing she’ll see is the carpet rushing towards her face. 

Her breathes come out in short gasping puffs. She moves into the living room. There’s no pictures. Where Henry’s smiling face used to beam from the Mantle there’s only empty space. Where the picture of her first birthday used to sit on the side table, there’s an lone vase. 

“Mommy,” she whimpers, the tears coming out faster and harder. 

She forces herself up the stairs, grasping onto the railing for dear life, a smear of blood left behind on the polished wood. 

Down the hall she stumbles. A left at the mirror then a right at the bathroom, straight ahead to the last door at the end of the hall. A shaky breath leaves her lips as her hand reaches for the door knob. She twists. 

Locked.

Nothing. There’s nothing. She didn’t change anything. Regina’s still dead. Emma’s still locked in her room, still hating her. Suddenly, all she needs is to get out of there. 

Going as quickly as her broken body will take her, she trips down the stairs and past the table in the foyer with the photograph of Henry sandwiched between Emma and Regina; a stack of unframed pictures sitting neatly next to it. She leaves out the front door not even bothering to close it behind her. 

Her body trembles as she moves, her hands shaking, her heart still pounding away. As if sensing the panic eating away at her and the frightened waves of magic seeping from her skin, the sky takes that very moment that she’s at her most vulnerable to open up the heavens and send a sudden thunderstorm crashing down on her. Rain pours so hard and so fast that she can’t even make out her hand in front of her face. She keeps shuffling along, her arm pressed tightly to her ribs as if by sheer will she can keep the pain at bay. 

She isn’t sure how long she’s been walking as her tears mingle with the rain but a startlingly bright flash of lightning lights up the darkened sky to show the neon sign of Granny’s Diner. Maybe she can go in just to get out of the cold and wait out the rain. Perhaps she can even pull out her puppy dog eyes and guilt Granny into a cup of hot cocoa with cinnamon. 

The door chimes as it opens and she stumbles in the door, keeping her head down. Her clothes and hair drip pathetically on the linoleum flooring and she sniffles like the saddest child in the world. 

She hadn’t noticed how dark the diner was until all of the lights are on suddenly and blinding her. 

“SURPRISE!” At least 50 people shout all at once. Her head snaps up to find a ‘Happy Birthday Heather’ banner hung up directly in front of her eyes. 

With the pure shock of it all, she can’t move. It isn’t until two voices call out simultaneously that she even shifts her gaze.

“Oh my god. KID!”

“Heather?! Love?”

Her red rimmed eyes drift to the left of the banner and all of the energy that was left in her body evaporates. Her shoulders drop and her posture crumples, body wracking sobs ripping harshly from her lips. 

In a flash there are two people surrounding her and checking over every inch of her body for injuries. The dark haired woman frowning and gasping at every cut and broken bone she finds. 

“G, you have to do something.” The blonde says insistently. A strange sense of Déjà Vu grips the teens heart. Maybe only hours before the same words had come from Snow as they tried to save the very person who just uttered them now. 

Regina doesn’t get the chance to even think words let alone say them before her little girl tackles her into a hug, her body still trembling with heartbreaking cries.

“Mommy,” she whimpers. Regina isn’t even truly sure she realizes she’s saying anything. 

Her concerned brown eyes meet her wife’s bright green as she hugs her baby as tightly to her as possible. “This is when she came back isn’t it?” She whispers into the girls hair, nuzzling her baby close.

Emma’s eyes are filled with tears as she can finally see the injuries to her daughter’s body left over from the battle so many years in her own past. Unfortunately for Heather, it wasn’t almost 2 decades ago. It was probably 2 hours. She nods back to her wife.

In a quick and practiced manoeuvre that Heather doesn’t even notice until the warm cinnamon apple scent of her mom shifts to the sugary sandalwood scent of her Ma, Emma shifts her daughter into her arms.

At first the girl wants to struggle not used to having Emma want to be around her at all, until the blonde sheriff grips her tighter and whispers in her ear. 

“I’m so proud of you, babydoll. Im so sorry for what you had to go through But you fixed it kid. You fixed it.”

With those words, Heather allows herself to fall deeply into her Ma’s embrace and closes her eyes tight when she feels her mom rubbing her back and hugging Emma to her side.

A man stands by watching happily as the teen reunites with her mother’s, exactly how he planned. He turns his smile to the older woman who’d just walked up beside him.

“I’m glad you could make it.” 

A bright warm grin gazes back at him, the same one she’d given him as a young boy. 

“It’s so good to see you again Henry.” The soft accent still present in her words even after all those years in a world far from her home.

“Are you going to see him?” The 31 year old man asks her.

She blinks and allows herself a moment to respond. He knows what she’s going to say before she does. 

“I think it’s time.”

“I think you’re right.” Henry responds lightly. The door to the diner jingles and a man limps into view. “Here’s your chance.”

She squeezes his hand lightly ready to step away before he pulls her back slightly. 

Henry grins and shoves his hands into his pockets. “Thank Gideon for me. He helped save my family.”

”It was all your idea. He just supplied the magic.” She nods again before stepping towards the man in the back.

“Hello Rumple,” she smiles sadly. 

His eyes widen. “Belle.” He breathes 

Emma catches Henry’s eye and gestures him over as her wife takes her time to heal their daughter of every injury. He nods but waits to watch the scene in front of him unfold. 

A young man steps up to Belle and Henry can just make out her words as she introduces the 18 year old to his father for the first time. 

A feeling of utter contentment fills his chest as he finds his family cramped into one of the back booths. Snow and David push a present under his sister’s nose where the girl is still currently pressed up against both of their mother’s not about to leave their side any time soon. As he slips into the booth next to Emma he catches Gold hugging Gideon. 

Maybe he helped fix two families that day. 

~< THE END >~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank every single one of you guys that made me feel so loved and encouraged to continue writing this story. I’m so happy how this turned out and I loved being able to share this crazy journey with you all.
> 
> One day I hope to write a sequel to this story but I definitely have so many more ideas to think about before that might happen. 
> 
> Thank you all! I love you.
> 
> Bre <3


	26. Chapter 26

Hey Lovelies!

I had so much fun writing this story and I'm honestly considering making this either part of a series with one shots of Heather's life growing up and such or maybe another full story with another basis. I absolutely loved and I hope hope hope you guys liked this story too. 

Perhaps if you have any ideas for one shots or a cool thought for a sequel to "A Date With The Past", maybe you could leave me a comment and/or DM/PM me? Sometimes I have a hard time coming up with concepts but I would love to continue with this universe. Tell me you didn't fall even a little bit in love with Heather, cause I know I did.

Anything you want to comment, even if it's just a "HEY", go for it! I love hearing from all of you.

Much Love, 

Bre <3


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